Bouncing baby!
While homemade remains the Holy Grail for many new mums and dads, time just isn’t on their side! Subsequently the best-selling brands both in the baby food and baby personal care segments are those that are effectively communicating a quality, premium message
Print11 March 2015
AT A GLANCE: BABY
- Cow & Gate has launched a range of 16 new vegetable-based savoury pouches that are specifically developed for baby’s first spoons to 10+ months
- Cow & Gate Little Steamed Meal plates are being rebranded Cow & Gate Little Gourmet plates. The Little Gourmet bowls are suitable for 8+ months and the plates are for 10+ months.
- Wafer Wisps from Heavenly are created by blending unique combinations of fruit and vegetables together with ancient grains, such as buckwheat and are suitable for 6+ months
- WaterWipes are the world’s only chemical free wipes
- 97% of midwives endorse WaterWipes as being suitable for new born babies and they are the only baby wipes in the world that are endorsed by Allergy UK
- Unlike other baby wipes, WaterWipes contain only two ingredients, 99.9% purified water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract
Parents want to give babies and toddlers the very best start in life that they can possibly provide. They are therefore seeking out sensitive skin care products that won’t irritate their baby’s delicate skin and highly nutritious foods. However research shows that 23% of one-year-olds in Ireland are getting inadequate intakes of iron and at least 70% of one to four-year-olds have inadequate intakes of vitamin D*. Brands that offer a strong nutritional proposition and effectively communicate this to mums and dads are subsequently the ranges that are recording the best results.
John Keane of Bord Bia has pointed to a Euromonitor baby food report which shows that not only has baby food proven itself to be one of the most recession proof categories, but it is also forecast to be the fastest growing category in the global food market. Over the period 2011-2016, the baby food category was expected to achieve an average annual growth rate of 6% while the overall food market was forecast to grow by only 2%.
According to Euromonitor there are two main reasons why baby foods have remained resilient throughout the recession years. Firstly when households reduce their grocery budget, baby food is the last category on which consumers are willing to cut spending because they value safety and quality over price. Secondly, private label penetration in the category is low at less than 2% of the global market.
Organic baby food is a niche area that is expected to continue to grow, as parents look for healthy, natural, high quality food products for their babies. Carefully thought-out flavours will also help to stimulate young palates.
Another major advantage for the baby and toddler market here is that Ireland’s birth rate is ahead of the rest of Europe. In fact, Ireland recorded the second highest fertility rate in the EU in 2012, figures released by the Central Statistics Office show. A report on Vital Statistics 2012 published by the Central Statistics Office notes that France had the highest fertility rate at 2.01, Ireland was next at 1.99 followed by the UK with a rate of 1.94. Portugal had the lowest rate at 1.28.
Referred to as the Total Period Fertility Rate (TPFR) the fertility figure represents a theoretical average number of children who would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime. The Irish Times reports that excluding 2011, it was 1963 since the percentage of births to mothers below 20 was so low. The decline in the rate births to mothers under 20 might suggest that Irish women are choosing to have their babies later in life and the rate of births to mothers over 40 is increasing. This is positive news for the baby category as it is likely that older mothers could potentially have higher levels of disposable income.
*(Source: Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance (2012). National Preschool Nutrition Survey Main Report. www.iuna.net)
Learn to love veggies for life
The new Cow & Gate Friends launch will help babies to learn to love veggies for life
Cow & Gate has been supporting Irish babies for over 128 years in Ireland. The brand is delighted to announce the launch of a range of 16 new vegetable-based savoury pouches that are specifically developed for baby’s first spoons to 10+ months.
This range is being launched in direct response to the growing need to encourage more consumption of vegetables in the diets of Irish babies. Babies are naturally pre-disposed to eating sweet and salty flavours, but are often given vegetables diluted by the addition of fruit. Behaviours learned as a baby will stay the whole way through life. With this range they will learn to love vegetables as they are meant to be enjoyed.
This range consists of four primary vegetable flavours; carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and pea, with the addition of stage relevant ingredients as baby progresses through weaning. The range is currently stocked by all major retailers.
Next best thing to homemade
Cow & Gate Little Gourmet bowls are suitable for 8+ months and the plates are for 10+ months
The next best thing to homemade; Cow & Gate is launching the Cow & Gate Little Gourmet range of bowls and plates.
Research tells us that Irish mums want to give their babies homemade food wherever possible, but between the aspiration and the reality, come the new range of Little Gourmet plates and bowls.
Offering Irish babies the opportunity to have interesting flavours throughout the week, Cow & Gate is launching a range of six new bowls (two x 200g) with recipes such as Garden Vegetable Trio, Beef Provençale and Grandma’s Chicken Casserole.
Cow & Gate Little Steamed Meal plates are being rebranded Cow & Gate Little Gourmet plates to offer a consistent breadth of a range across two key formats for mums. The bowls are suitable for 8+ months and the plates are for 10+ months.
Supported by in-store communication, price promotions and coupons, the company believes this range launch and re-brand will drive growth back into the premium baby food category.
Organic, natural, Heavenly
Wafer Wisps are designed to be mess-free; dissolving easily in babies’ mouths
Only the finest, organic ingredients make the cut for these brand new and deliciously moreish Wafer Wisps from Heavenly. Unique combinations of fruit and vegetables are blended together with ancient grains, such as buckwheat, to create this healthy snack for little ones (6+ months) – and parents can relax in the knowledge that they contain no nasty hidden ingredients, not even sugar or salt.
There are two flavour combinations available: ‘Pumpkin & Banana’ and ‘Spinach, Apple & Kale’, and each wafer is the perfect size for little hands. The Wafer Wisps are designed to help encourage babies to feed themselves, and because they dissolve easily in the mouth, they are mess-free (or as mess-free as babies can be!).
Despite being created with babies in mind, toddlers, older children and yes, even grown-ups, will enjoy the sweet taste of Wafer Wisps, making them the perfect on-the-go, guilt-free snack for all the family.
Heavenly is the brainchild of Shauna Blair, a mum to three children, and a lover of all things organic and nutritious. Shauna first came up with the idea for Heavenly when she was frustrated by the limited choice of baby food products in Northern Ireland for children, and then when her children were diagnosed with allergies and the choice was limited even further, she knew she had to do something about it.
Shauna began by creating a guilt-free range of organic baby weaning meals for the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland market, and now Heavenly has, for the first time, moved into snacks, with availability across the UK.
Heavenly Wafer Wisps will be available from April with further new products launching in May and July.
The world’s purest baby wipe
WaterWipes is launching its first ever nationwide TV campaign on 2 March. The Irish company will spend €500,000 on a major TV advertising campaign, fully supported by digital, consumer and healthcare press advertising.
With scheduling optimised to target their core audience, mums with kids, across a variety of ratings-topping shows on RTE, TV3, UTV and Channel 4, WaterWipes CEO Edward McCloskey said he believes the innovative new campaign will drive awareness of the brand that is growing rapidly across the world.
WaterWipes has invested €500,000 on a major TV advertising campaign, fully supported by digital, consumer and healthcare press advertising
McCloskey said: “It’s a very simple yet powerful ad campaign that stays true to the brand’s core values by speaking directly to mums and showcasing that these wipes truly are different. We have a great, Irish made product that’s uniqueness is driving sales all around the world, from Australia to the US where sales are phenomenal.”
WaterWipes are the world’s only chemical free wipes and are as gentle on new born baby’s skin as cotton wool and cooled boiled water and 97% of midwives endorse that they are suitable for new born babies.
Unlike other baby wipes, WaterWipes contain only two ingredients, 99.9% purified water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract and they are the only baby wipes in the world that are endorsed by Allergy UK.
WaterWipes are available in all major retailers and leading pharmacies or online with Amazon.
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