Danone's baby food brands undergo image and ingredient revamp
22 Jun 2018 --- Danone Early Life Nutrition has revamped both of its 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 also launching a new patented next-generation powder formulation and a complete packaging refresh across its entire range.
Aptamil
The Aptamil overhaul includes new recipes and a complete revamp of the packaging. The refreshed pack designs will feature across all products in the Aptamil range 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 UK retailers from the end of June.
“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 the 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,” says Marie-Astrid Gosse, Marketing Manager at Aptamil.
Packaging for core, specialist and premium products across the new ranges will be 800g replacing the previous ranges. Prices will start from £1.24 (US$1. 65) per 100g, with all prices at the sole discretion of the retailer.
Cow & Gate
The stream of new product developments and the re-branding of Cow & Gate will be hittin
g UK shelves with the aim to introduce new flavors, textures and tastes to the baby food category.
Cow & Gate state that it is one of the first to bring fish to the early stage of the weaning journey for babies, for example, with the launch of the new jar product Butternut Squash, Salmon and Courgette. For this age group, it is also introducing new textures and flavors to the pouches range, such as Strawberry Quinoa with Greek Style Yogurt, 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 flavors, such as Multigrain Porridge with Oats and Barley, provide a source of vitamin D and iron.
For children aged 12 months onwards, new steam tray meals like Vegetables, Chicken and Mango Curry, aim to help parents introduce grown-up and diverse flavors 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 emphasize diverse and authentic tastes by using simple, delicious recipes, remove added sugar with no artificial colors, flavorings or preservatives, across the Cow & Gate food range.
Regarding the packaging, the new-look is said to be inspired by nature’s colors, by injecting more green into the design of the labeling. 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.
“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 standout and premium shelf display and unique point of sale with our huge recipe range,” says Sandra Eglau, Head of Consumer Marketing, Cow & Gate.
Danone adds that it clearly recognizes that breastfeeding is best for babies and that decisions to begin weaning should always be made on the advice of a doctor, midwife or other professional.
NutritionInsight has recently dived into the world of infant nutrition, with a two-part series on the topic. Part one focused on R&D challenges to infant nutrition manufacturers and part two took a look at innovations in the market.
