As the post-90s and even post-00s mothers have gradually become the main consumer groups in the maternal and infant market, their quality requirements for maternal and child-related industries are also constantly improving.
According to the "2024 Maternal and Child Consumption Future Trend Insight Report" released by Digital 100, 30% of mothers will give priority to the ingredients and formulas of products when buying maternal and infant products. Data from the China Children's Research Institute also shows that since 2016, maternal and infant families have continued to pay more attention to children's immunization products, and the proportion has reached 83.6% in 2022.
At the same time, the popularity of "self-care milk powder" in the market is increasing day by day, and brands such as Royal Meso, Mead Johnson Lanzhen, Feihe Zhuorui, and Aptamed Zhuo Ao have successively launched self-care milk powder. In May of this year, the 9:1 short-to-long chain ratio prebiotic announced by Aptamil at the world-class pediatric nutrition conference ESPGHAN has attracted the attention of many experts at home and abroad. So, can Aptamed Troo, which applies the patent of "9:1 short-to-long chain ratio prebiotic", win the favor of consumers?
Research and development of new patents to build a protective shield for the baby
Previously, the formula change caused the baby to vomit and diarrhea
According to public information, Aptamil milk powder is produced in Germany, and the "old club" is the German Milupa Group. In 1968, Lebao Group developed the first high-end formula for breast milk protein, "Aptamil". Subsequently, the Germany Melebo Group was acquired by Nturicia.
In 2007, Nutricia was acquired by Danone, and the Aptamil brand became the milk powder brand of Danone Group. After the completion of the acquisition, Danone integrated its infant milk powder brands such as Aptamil, Kerekang and Nuoyouneng into Nutricia.
Among the brands mentioned above, Aptamil is doing well in sales. In the four-star and five-star praise ranking of Tmall statistics in the past 30 days, Aptamed Zhuoao 1 milk powder ranked first, with a 30-day praise rate of 95%, and on the hot list, the product was TOP3, with a hot sales index of 8.6.
The "9:1 short-to-long chain ratio prebiotic" researched by the Aptamil team this time has also been applied to the Aptamil Trohl series. According to the information on the official website, 9:1 in the 9:1 short-chain and long-chain ratio prebiotic is calculated according to the ratio calculated according to the content of short-chain galacto-oligosaccharides and long-chain polyfructose on the label, following the "Danone Nutrition Standard" and designing short- and long-chain oligosaccharides according to the 9-to-1 concept. This patent has been proven to scientifically and effectively help the key beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract of Chinese babies to proliferate by 60%+, and help the baby's own immune system release immunoglobulin slgA, thereby helping the baby's belly to establish the first protective shield against external challenges.
The high-selling Aptamil Troo 3 in the Aptamil range also uses a full liquid protein feed (skim milk, demineralized whey, and whey protein concentrate are liquid feeds and powdered at one time) to retain more whey protein nutrients, while the milk-derived OPO structure can also help the absorption of nutrients such as key calcium.
In the official flagship store of Aptamil Tmall, the number of people who paid for several purchase links of Aptamil Zhuo Ao 3 is not small, of which the number of people who paid for single can purchase and 6 cans of full box purchase links exceeded 20,000.
Dairy analyst Song Liang and dairy expert Wang Dingmian both mentioned in an interview with Dagong FMCG that in the Chinese market, many consumers recognize Aptamil milk powder, and its market performance has been good. According to the statistics of the Whale Staff e-commerce data analysis platform, in January 2024, Aptamil ranked first in sales on the JD platform, accounting for about 20% of the sales market.
However, it is this milk powder brand that sells well in the Chinese market that has caused some foreign babies to vomit and other symptoms due to formula changes. According to the BBC in United Kingdom, in 2018, Aptamil baby formula changed the formula of 3 products, but about 100 United Kingdom parents left messages on Aptamil Facebook page, saying that their children experienced stomach discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms after drinking the new formula. In interviews, many mothers told reporters that this new version is not easy to hydrolyze and smells of expired milk.
At that time, Yinchuan Customs also paid attention to this situation. According to the information on the official website of the General Administration of Customs of People's Republic of China, on July 17, 2018, Yinchuan Customs issued a document stating that after the General Administration of Customs contacted and verified with relevant enterprises, the infant formula milk powder involved in the report was a product supplied by Danone Group to the European market, and was not imported to China through general trade channels, and the group did not introduce the product to the Chinese market through cross-border e-commerce.
Meanwhile, in response to the mothers' complaints, Danone United Kingdom said, "We assure parents that our priority is product quality and safety. Recently, Danone launched a new Aptamil milk powder formula, and we also recognize that some customers are unable to adapt to the new formula. Danone conducts extensive quality and safety inspections on these products, including clinical trials as well as product testing. The test results showed that the new formula was safe and suitable for infants. We've also updated the instructions on the package to shake the bottle vigorously for 10 seconds to fully dissolve the powder. ”
But can you shake the milk powder violently? Nie Lihong, deputy chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology of Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, publicly said that it is incorrect to shake up and down when making milk powder, and bubbles will be produced in the process of shaking, and a large amount of gas will be swallowed after drinking, causing symptoms of bloating. If the baby swallows more bubbles, it will cause the baby to have stomach bloating, and if you don't burp in time, it will cause spitting up due to discomfort.
It can be seen in platforms such as Black Cat Complaint that this year, there are still many consumers who said that their children had diarrhea and indigestion after eating Aptamil milk powder, and one of the consumers took their children to the clinic and did not have diarrhea the next day after following the doctor's advice to change other milk powder.
Song Liang also said that the preparation of milk powder will basically not cause children to vomit and diarrhea, but is related to the product formula.
However, judging from the several new national standard series of the national version of Aptamil under the umbrella, its ingredient list "has its own merits".
Quality problems continue
The safety of Aptamil milk powder is a concern
At present, the five national versions of the new national standard milk powder listed on the market include the classic version, Zhuo Ao, Lingyi, Youyi and Zhuo Zhen, of which the three Aitami classic version, Zhuo Yi and Lingyi are imported from European milk sources and imported from Germany and Netherlands. Zhuo Zhen and Youyi use New Zealand milk sources and are produced in Shandong and Hunan respectively. However, Aptamil Classic uses palm oil as the main source of fat, which may saponify with calcium, affecting calcium absorption and increasing the chance of constipation.
In this regard, Song Liang said that palm oil is one of the main oils added to milk powder, which generally does not have any negative impact on children, and the use of palm oil may be based on cost considerations, because compared with sunflower oil, walnut oil, corn oil, etc., the price of palm oil is relatively low.
In fact, as an internationally renowned brand, the quality control system of Aptamil milk powder should be relatively mature and comprehensive. However, a series of problems in recent years have shown that the system is still deficient in some areas.
On April 10, 2023, a consumer in Langfang, Hebei Province, posted a video on social platforms to break the news that he had just opened a can of Aptamedrol milk powder and found a worm that was wriggling.
In this regard, the staff of Aptamil said that nitrogen will be filled into the inside (milk powder can) before packaging, and if the packaging is not very airtight, or there is air leakage and powder leakage, the above situation may occur.
Coincidentally, in October 2022, a netizen posted a "open cover" video on social platforms. In the video, the netizen opened a new can of Aptamedrol milk powder under the witness of the Market Supervision Bureau and the seller, but found that there were live insects inside. Subsequently, many netizens posted videos of themselves opening cans of Aptamedrol milk powder and finding bugs on the short video platform.
In addition, on platforms such as Black Cat Complaint and Xiaohongshu, some consumers have found hair, silk wool, blue plastic, etc. in Aptamil milk powder. Many consumers said that when they found a foreign object and communicated with the customer service, the other party kept "kicking the ball", and one of them was told by the customer service that "it is speculated that the can lid fell into it carefully", but the consumer did not find any damage when he checked the lid.
Screenshot from Xiaohongshu
Aptamil told Dagong FMCG that Aptamil always puts product quality and safety first, and our products have undergone strict quality and safety testing before leaving the factory. The factory that produces Aptamil has a strict food safety control system, and has taken all-round monitoring measures for all aspects of raw materials, production, warehouse storage and transportation, and uses closed stainless steel pipes to prevent foreign matter from entering, and is equipped with a precision filter screen to effectively filter foreign matter. In addition, the factory has strict pest control methods to prevent insects from entering the production environment, and nitrogen and carbon dioxide are flushed into the milk powder cans, so that live insects cannot survive in the well-packaged milk powder under the premise of very low oxygen content.
Aptamil further stated that consumers are advised to purchase Aptamil products through official channels and store the products in a clean and clean environment. Confirm that the milk powder product is in good condition before opening the product, and close the lid tightly after each use of the milk powder product. We have always attached great importance to consumer feedback on various situations encountered when using products, and will maintain close communication with consumers, and will also cooperate with channel parties to actively and properly solve the problems encountered by consumers.
In fact, Aptamil has invested a lot of resources and energy in marketing. It is understood that the famous Chinese tennis player Li Na, the Olympic diving hardware champion Wu Minxia, the famous Chinese actress Tan Zhuo, and the brand manager Lv Yan have all served as the spokesperson of Aitami, and at present, Wei Chen is the brand ambassador of Aitami 3.
In addition, Aptamil has also paid a lot in film and television and variety show investment. As early as 2016, Aptamil was deeply bound to iQiyi's self-made variety show "Tearing Custom", and enhanced brand awareness through various methods such as naming, oral broadcasting, and implantation. Since then, he has sponsored variety shows such as "Take Me Far Away", "Goodbye Lover 3", and "Dad's Home Season 3".
However, the food safety of infant formula should not be underestimated. In the future, whether Aptamil will continue to improve the safety supervision of baby "rations" and product after-sales will continue to pay attention to Dagong FMCG.