FDBusiness.com

Danone Early Life Nutrition is launching a category refresh that spans its leading baby food brands, Cow & Gate and Aptamil. Cow & Gate is launching fifteen new food recipes across the pouch, cereal, jar and tray product ranges, as well as a complete packaging re-brand across its entire formula milk and food portfolio. Starting from mid-June, the changes will be the biggest the brand has ever undergone. Aptamil is launching a new patented next generation powder formulation and a complete packaging refresh across its entire range.

Featuring a new TV advertisement and a huge stream of new product developments the Cow & Gate re-brand will be hitting the shelves with the aim to introduce delicious and new flavours, textures and tastes to the baby food category.

Cow & Gate are the first to bring fish to the early stage of the weaning journey for babies, with the launch of the new jar product Butternut Squash, Salmon and Courgette[1]. For this age group, they are also introducing new textures and flavours to the pouches range, such as Strawberry Quinoa with Greek Style Yogurt[2], to help parents integrate grain texture progression and dairy into their babies’ diets.

Four new porridge recipes have been designed to help reinvigorate the cereal category for babies up to one year. The new flavours, such as Multigrain Porridge with Oats and Barley[3], provide a source of vitamin D and iron.

For children aged 12 months onwards, new steam tray meals like Vegetables, Chicken and Mango Curry[4] aim to help parents introduce grown-up and diverse flavours at a later feeding stage.  The trays are designed to be a convenient format also encouraging little ones on their journey to family meal times.

These changes are an evolution of steps taken in 2016 to emphasise diverse and authentic tastes by using simple delicious recipes, remove added sugar** with no artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives, across the Cow & Gate food range.

The new-look packaging is inspired by nature’s colours, by injecting more green into the design of their labelling. The change is in response to consumers’ desires for a more instinctive approach to parenting, and a need for products that they can trust. The packaging now further highlights images of the ingredients, making it more transparent for parents to identify the recipe options on the shelf.

Sandra Eglau, Head of Consumer Marketing – Cow & Gate, says: “We’re guided by an inspiring purpose and we believe that little ones are happiest when they are free to develop at their own pace. To bring our purpose to life we go further than only providing products. Our care goes beyond; it’s instinctive to all we do. We take pride in our heritage and the inspiration that provides every day. We offer practical, down to earth expertise and support that we believe could make a difference in parents’ and babies’ lives.”

She adds: “Our new packaging is grounded in this belief. This has inspired the new visual identity and communications for the brand. Introducing on top of that also a variety of new recipes can broaden little ones’ taste buds and help parents make the most of the early years and meal times together. We’re proud and extremely excited with the launch, it’s been an incredible journey and one we can now share with our consumers and retailers. We’re confident that the new range will give retailers a stand out and premium shelf display and unique point of sale with our huge recipe range.”

Available in most retailers in the UK from mid-June RRP is at the sole discretion of retailers.

[1] See RRP/weight in Table 1, Line 3

[2] See RRP/weight in Table 1, Line 1

[3] See RRP/weight in Table 1, Line 2

[4] See RRP/weight in Table 1, Line 5

Aptamil launches its biggest category change in over a decade

Aptamil, the UK’s number one baby milk brand, is launching new, patented next generation powder formulations and a complete new look across all of its range. Constantly innovating to bring parents the latest discoveries that their science has to offer and inspired by 40 years of breastmilk research, Aptamil Follow On Milk and Growing Up Milks with Pronutra™- ADVANCE combine a new unique process with a patented blend of ingredients including vitamin D to support the normal function of the immune system.

The refreshed pack designs will feature across all products in the Aptamil range[1] and include clear front-of-pack staging, making the products more easily identifiable on shelves. The new formulations and pack designs will be available to retailers from the end of June.

Marie-Astrid Gosse, Marketing Manager at Aptamil, says: “At Aptamil, we are devoted to bringing mums and their little ones the latest innovations our ground-breaking science and research has to offer. We work with passionate experts to continuously develop our products and we’re extremely proud and excited about this launch. This is the biggest change we have made in over a decade and we truly believe our investment in maintaining quality means our range is one of the best in market. Not only do we have powder formulations with a unique and patented blend of ingredients but the new-look packaging across the range now further reflects the premium nature of our brand, giving retailers a visual point of sale and helping consumers understand which product is most suitable for their needs.”

Packaging for core, specialist and premium products across the new ranges will be 800g replacing the previous ranges. Prices will start from £1.24 per 100g[2] with all prices at the sole discretion of the retailer.

[1] New packaging excludes tailored nutrition range (i.e. Pepti and Lactose-Free)

[2] See further information in tables 1 & 2 in notes to editors