"Caring for Baby's Smart Development" Column | Leading the innovation trend of DHA algal oil, childhood stories to be a more suitable "brain gas station" for Chinese babies
With the in-depth spread of the concept of "refined feeding", nutritional products that used to play a "small transparent" role in the maternal and infant industry have gradually grown into the "standard with babies" for the new generation of parents, and the market scale has grown rapidly. When it comes to the hottest and most concerned type of maternal and infant nutrition in the past two years, DHA must be a strong contender on the shortlist.
According to the statistics of the Maternal and Child Research Institute, in 2023, the sales of infant DHA products on the Taobao Tmall platform will increase by 51.8% year-on-year, accounting for 31.2% of the total sales of the entire "infant and child nutrition" category, which is worthy of the name "popular top nutrition products".
The consumption hotspot of the nutrition market is often the focus of the topic for parents to exchange parenting experiences. In order to help maternal and infant consumers have an in-depth understanding of the efficacy and product form of DHA, and at the same time help channel partners efficiently explore the dividends and business growth of DHA categories, "Childhood Story", a leading brand of maternal and infant nutrition, has joined hands with "Maternal and Child Industry Observation" to launch the column "Caring for Baby's Intelligent Development" to take readers and friends to understand the "past and present life" of DHA.
Miraculous nutrition from the deep sea
What is the confidence of "the top popular nutrition products".
The source of many inventions and discoveries in human history is often an accidental event that "unintentionally inserts willows into the willows", and the same is true for DHA.
In the early 70s of the 20th century, in an epidemiological study of the Inuit people in Greenland, researchers stumbled upon a much lower rate of myocardial infarction in the locals than in other regions, and speculated that the phenomenon may be related to the long-term consumption of marine fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. 【1】
With the continuous development of related research, scientists have found that Omega-3 fatty acids have significant effects in many aspects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombosis, and lowering blood lipids in the human body. In this process, DHA, one of the main components of Omega-3 fatty acids, has gradually become known for its various positive effects on human health.
DHA, whose scientific name is "docosahexaenoic acid", is about 10%-20% in the human cerebral cortex and up to 50% in the retina of the eye. Studies have found that DHA can increase the elasticity of blood vessels, reduce blood viscosity, strengthen and improve human immunity, and also plays a key role in the brain and vision development of the human body, especially infants and young children.
The importance of DHA supplementation for mothers and infants was emphasized in the Expert Consensus on DHA Supplementation for Pregnant Women, Infants and Young Children in China released as early as 2015. "Although DHA is a non-essential fatty acid that can be synthesized from α-linolenic acid, it can also be considered an essential fatty acid for pregnant and lactating women due to its low conversion rate and its critical role for fetal and infant brain development and retinal development," the consensus said. ”
The benefits of DHA supplementation in pregnant women and infants are also numerous: if expectant mothers supplement DHA during pregnancy, it can reduce the risk of early preterm birth and moderately promote fetal growth. Infant and child intake of DHA can also play a role in promoting the development of nervous system and visual function, regulating immune function, and improving sleep quality. 【2】
The "Dietary Nutrient Reference Intakes for Chinese Residents (2023 Edition)" also gives a clear reference for the daily intake of DHA for children of different ages: the appropriate daily intake of DHA for infants aged 0~2 is 100 mg, and the appropriate daily intake for children aged 3~11 and 12~17 years is 200 mg and 250 mg, respectively.
The human body itself does not have the ability to effectively synthesize DHA, so infants, children, and pregnant women need to supplement DHA through foods such as deep-sea fish. However, due to factors such as eating habits, region, personal tastes, likes and dislikes, a considerable degree of babies and mothers are unable to absorb enough DHA through "food supplements". In contrast, DHA nutrition products are more convenient to carry and eat, and more palatable, which is favored by more and more maternal and infant families.
Based on the different raw materials of the product, the raw materials of DHA nutrition products can be roughly divided into two types: DHA fish oil and DHA algal oil. Among them, DHA fish oil comes from deep-sea fish, mainly extracted from the fat of the head, eye sockets and internal organs of large marine fish such as tuna and bonito, while DHA algal oil is derived from deep-sea microalgae, which is extracted from algae such as Schizochytridella, Wuken's chytridium and Cryptodinoflagellates through microbial fermentation.
It is worth mentioning that DHA was first discovered in fish oil, but in fact, fish themselves do not have the ability to synthesize this substance. The DHA content in the body is accumulated through the food chain of plankton swallowing algae and fish ingesting plankton, which causes a significant difference in DHA content between the two. It is known that the DHA content in fish oil is about 12-20%, while the DHA content in algal oil can reach more than 35% [3]. In addition, because most of the DHA algal oil is cultivated and enriched through the sealed fermentation process, it has the advantages of controllable production environment and very low EPA content, which is more suitable for pregnant women, infants and young children.
Leading the innovation trend of DHA algal oil
Childhood stories do more suitable
Chinese baby's "brain gas station"
In recent years, the consumption of maternal and infant nutrition products has been heating up, and DHA algal oil nutrition, as one of its core categories, has ushered in a market explosion, with brands emerging one after another, and increasingly rich products. With the continuous escalation of market competition, maternal and infant DHA algal oil nutrition related brands have begun to focus on multiple dimensions such as product ingredient purity, taste dosage form, multi-dimensional nutrition, and population segmentation, opening a new round of "arms race", among which the imported nutrition brand "Childhood Story" is an excellent representative.
Ingredient purity, as the core indicator to highlight the competitiveness of DHA algal oil products, "ingredient purity" has always been the focus of brands. Higher ingredient purity means that babies can get enough DHA nutrition by eating less algal oil. But on the other hand, the purity of the ingredients is related to the product purification technology and the quality of raw materials. Therefore, up to now, there are only a handful of brands that can mass-produce DHA algal oil products with 80% or even higher purity.
In terms of taste dosage form, although DHA algal oil products are less greasy and fishy than fish oil products, for children with picky diets, no matter how small the fishy smell is, it will become a reason for them to refuse to eat. On the other hand, a single product dosage form cannot meet the food preferences of children of different ages, and it is also difficult to leave a distinct brand impression in the minds of maternal and infant consumers. Therefore, how to improve the palatability of products by optimizing formulas and dosage forms, and create differentiated characteristics of products, is also one of the key points of attention for brands. "Maternal and Child Industry Observation" noticed that in addition to the traditional soft capsule dosage form, the current maternal and infant DHA algal oil products have also emerged more interesting gel gummy dosage forms, drops, powders and other dosage forms that are more suitable for young babies to eat, and at the same time added more popular flavors such as peach and lemon for children.
In terms of compound nutrition, compared with their parents, the new generation of maternal and infant consumers have a higher awareness of nutritional supplements, and babies who eat DHA are often taking other types of nutritional products. Compound nutrition DHA algae oil products can not only meet the needs of young parents for their children to "eat one product to supplement multiple nutrients", but also scientifically match nutrients to comprehensively improve the effect of DHA. For example, DHA+PS (phosphatidylserine) can effectively promote the absorption of nutrients, stimulate brain vitality, and improve children's learning ability and memory, while DHA+lutein ester can strengthen the antioxidant effect of the two components, and at the same time promote retinal development, vision and brain development...... One after another DHA compound nutrition products are constantly refreshing the public's perception of the efficacy boundary of DHA algal oil products.
In terms of population segmentation, age and class are not a new concept for the maternal and infant industry. In recent years, affected by the refined and high-quality needs of the new generation of maternal and infant consumers, maternal and infant brands have developed personalized products for infants and children of different ages and developments, and the field of maternal and infant DHA algal oil is no exception. From the formula dosage form to the ingredient content, brands are optimizing the ratio of various parameters of the product to complete the efficient satisfaction of the personalized needs of users, and then realize the coverage of maternal and infant DHA algal oil products for the whole age of infant and child intelligent development.
Focusing on the "Childhood Story" of the DHA product matrix, we found that this professional maternal and infant nutrition brand made in Canada has almost always played the role of a leader in DHA algal oil innovation.
Taking the "Childhood Story DHA Algal Oil 80%" under "Childhood Story" as an example, the product is carefully selected and purified by natural single-cell seaweed, and the purity of DHA ingredients is as high as 80%, far exceeding the national standard and market average. Because of its excellent product quality, "Childhood Story DHA Algae Oil 80%" has become the first DHA algae oil product certified by IFOS International Authoritative Five-Star in China, and has since won many industry awards such as the Special Gold Award of the International Monte Award and the Annual Outstanding Performance Award of the Cherry Awards.
While continuously raising the "ceiling" of the purity of maternal and infant DHA algal oil nutritional products, "Childhood Story" also focuses on consumers' dimensions of taste dosage form, compound nutrition and personalized needs, and has successively launched innovative products such as "Childhood Story Compound Phosphatidylserine Gel Candy" and "Childhood Story Compound Lutein Ester Gel Candy", constantly enriching and optimizing its DHA product matrix, and providing DHA refined supplement solutions for Chinese babies of different ages and different nutritional supplement needs.
Since entering the Chinese market in 2018, "Childhood Story" has been at the forefront of the maternal and infant DHA algae oil nutrition track all year round.
[1] China Economic Times: The development history of China's algal oil DHA, when did "brain gold" enter the "homes of ordinary people"?
[2] Chinese Nutrition Association: Healthy and healthy life, clear DHA supplementation
[3] Zhiyan Consulting: "2023-2029 China Algae Oil DHA Industry Market Operation Status and Investment Prospect Forecast Report"