Mothers and babies are both maturing later

Demographic forecasts expect an aging of the Hungarian society, which is bad news for the baby category. Ilona Guba, Hipp Kft.’s sales and marketing director is of the opinion that the market will not grow unless young people are convinced that they can raise their children safely.

She also thinks that economic recession made consumers more conscious – manufacturers have to keep this in mind when innovating and focus on products with a good price/value ratio. Sales of convenience products fell and this is clearly visible in the case of liquid ready-made formulas because these days mothers prefer buying formula powder and preparing the nourishment themselves. In Hungary Humana products are distributed by Medico Uno Kft. Product manager Zoltán Kepe highlighted the influential role of pediatricians. Consequently the company tries to be present in pediatricians’ office with their information material as much as possible. Thanks to the successful communication of breastfeeding, fewer infants are fed with formulas. At the same time formula producers keep innovating and appear in shops with modern, specialised products. In the formula segment food retail units and drugstores play an ever more important role, but with the products subsidised by social security it is still pharmacies that dominate. Krisztina Antal, Nestlé Hungária Kft.’s trade marketing manager called our attention to the high level of brand loyalty in the formula and baby milk category. A good example of this is the dynamic development in the junior drink segment. With bottled baby food, Nestlé’s experience is that it has to compete with food prepared at home, meaning that this segment is greatly influenced by economic conditions. According to Univer Product Zrt., mothers are starting to pay increased attention to quality. We learned from product category manager Krisztina Deákné Darányi that mothers are beginning to see the advantages of baby food: it is practical and makes allergen-free feeding possible, for instance with their no added sugar, lactose-, milk protein- and gluten-free Univer Csupajó Bébiétel product family. Zsolt Karancsi, Procter&Gamble’s corporate relations manager told that mothers gather lots of information about baby products and one of the places where they do this is the Internet. A growing number of mothers are buying cheap diapers, but those who are unwilling to do so can choose from Pampers products in three price categories, including the Pampers Premium Care diaper with Dry Max™ technology. Dóra Pessenlehner, SCA Hygiene Products Kft.’s product manager opines that nowadays babies stop wearing diapers later than before and the number of diapers used daily is also increasing. Mothers are looking for price promotions and new designs – Libero’s football-themed collection and Up&Go with the tiger design were very successful. The high quality of Hipp Kft.’s products is guaranteed by Organic quality and by the fact that their in-house regulation is much stricter than current legislation: each of their products is controlled 260 times in different phases of production. This year Hipp will also bring numerous new products to the market: new flavours within existing product groups or completely new categories such as the Kinder Waffeln product family. A revolutionary introduction will take place among formulas: Hipp will be the first to supplement products with combiotics. To support their new products, the company decided to use their online capacities more intensively, not only continuously developing their website, but using online promotions through their professional online sales partner. Nestlé also uses the Internet in their communication, not only to promote products but also to provide mothers with professional information on nourishing infants. Medico Uno’s team is working on making more products available in the Humana formula portfolio. Univer will come out with a new product group in their Csupajó baby food family: 7 products for 10-month old infants. SCA will introduce the Libero bra pad in white and skin colours, focusing on online activities in the new product’s promotion.