FrieslandCampina Ingredients uncovers untapped market potential in targeted children’s nutrition

With lower global birth rates sizing down the infant nutrition market, brands may look to diversify into child nutrition, which offers opportunities for product innovation. Beyond multivitamins, demand is growing for ingredients that address parental concerns in gut health, growth, immunity, cognition and mental well-being.

Timo Faber, global marketing lead of Early Life Nutrition at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, tells Nutrition Insight that the industry underserves this market segment compared to adult and infant nutrition. 

Faber highlights nutritional needs change as children age. “We distinguish between three age categories — early childhood ( three to five), middle childhood ( five to 12) and teenage years (over 12).” 

“For all those life stages, it is important that the child gets the right nutrition that fits the development stage they’re in,” he adds. “We are dealing with rapid growth, but also a change in activity levels and the maturation of organs, and we see hormonal changes in this category.” 

Growth opportunities past infant nutrition

Although some products, such as kids’ multivitamins, are on the market, Faber says that, in general, “the offering for children is very limited,” especially when compared to the infant and adult nutrition markets.

He notes that most brands focusing on child nutrition are active in the infant milk formula market. “But we see a decline in birth rates, and as a result, the infant milk formula market is contracting.” 

“These brand owners look for new growth opportunities. There’s a significant opportunity out there when you look at kids beyond three years old. With three to 12 years, you’re serving a much larger demographic, and there’s a more significant opportunity,” says Faber.

Specifically, he sees potential in products such as fortified foods and gummy supplements, which contain scientifically proven ingredients and address kids’ nutritional needs as they age. Moreover, he suggests that early life nutrition brands should also address top parental concerns for child development, such as immunity and healthy growth. 

We recently met up with Timo Faber to discuss opportunities in the child nutrition market.FrieslandCampina Ingredients focuses on five key health areas in a child’s development in its offerings — growth and development, immune health, gut health, brain development and emotional well-being. The company’s Step Up Nutrition portfolio addresses these areas for children aged three and up. 

“We did a large consumer survey among parents, and when we asked parents of three- to five-year-olds about their top concerns, 61% said immunity, 60% said growth and development and 59% said emotional well-being,” says Faber 

Tailoring to children’s needs

Faber cautions against considering children as “small adults” and creating smaller portion sizes of existing products. Kids have very specific nutritional needs due to their developmental stage, which are different from adults who try to maintain their health. 

“From three to 15 years, they undergo significant changes, be it in physical growth, brain development or immune systems, but they also start managing social interactions with their classmates and friends.” 

For example, he details that before early childhood, from three to around five years old, the brain has developed to 75% of its size, developing to 90% when a child reaches five years. In addition, children reach 40% of their height gain between ages five and 15, while hormonal changes play a prominent role in teenagers between 12 and 15.

“However, adults are typically in a state of homeostasis. The focus is on maintaining health and addressing particular concerns, for example, when you age and want to stay mobile or have a certain lifestyle, like sporting, and you’re looking for sports nutrition; these are tailored needs,” Faber says. 

Comparing kids’ needs for healthy growth with adults, Faber says that protein and energy help maintain health, energy levels and physical activity for adults. “Adults typically require less energy per kilogram of body mass.”

Faber says that energy, protein and zinc are essential for height growth as they promote bone longitudinal growth.Macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and lipids are building blocks for average growth. Faber stresses that adequate intake of these nutrients in early life is crucial to prevent growth retention.

“For a healthy BMI, it’s important to limit the intake of food and beverages that are high in calories but low in nutrients to avoid excessive weight gain in children.” 

He adds that energy, protein and zinc are essential for height growth as they promote bone longitudinal growth.

Immune support

Proper nutrition is crucial to developing a child’s immune system, says Faber. 

“Research shows adequate nutrition may reduce common respiratory illnesses or chronic diseases like asthma. It’s a variety of nutrients that play a role in the functioning of immune cells. These are proteins, minerals and vitamins and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.” 

“What research also shows is the importance of the gut microbiota in supporting a child’s immune system,” he adds. “The gastrointestinal tract contains the largest number of immune cells in the body, and dietary fibers, especially prebiotics, are crucial for the growth of these gut microbiota.” 

Faber details that the microbiota ferment the prebiotics to produce short-chain fatty acids and, in turn, exert an anti-inflammatory effect and regulate immune responses. “There’s quite some complexity behind the development of the immune system, but we know through research that nutrition plays a crucial role here.”

Step Up Nutrition targets growth, immunity, gut health, brain development and emotional well-being (Image credit: FrieslandCampina Ingredients).Gut-brain axis

According to Faber, there are ample opportunities for kids’ nutrition brands to develop products with prebiotics, such as galactooligosaccharides (GOS). He says these are popular among parents to improve their child’s gut health. “Our study shows that a quarter of all parents associate gut health with prebiotics.” 

Research by FrieslandCampina Ingredients indicates that GOS positively affects infants’ gut microbiota. The company studied formula-fed infants, finding that infants who consume formula with GOS had a “significantly larger amount of Bifidobacteria” than infants who did not consume these prebiotics. 

“There’s more to GOS,” continues Faber. “It can contribute to a healthy immune system and enhance mineral absorption, and there’s emerging evidence that it can also impact mental health.” 

“In some of our studies with highly anxious young adults who were supplemented with GOS, we saw reduced markers for anxiety within this population. Building on this emerging field, we are now introducing products in this area of mental health.”

As part of FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ recently launched Step Up Nutrition range, the company developed several concepts, including Cool & Calm Kids Gummies with GOS. These are based on research linking the health of the gut microbiome and mental health through the gut-brain axis. 

Additionally, Faber highlights the company’s concept for brain health, Smarty Pants Milk Drink, which contains high levels of omega-3 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). 

“DHA is essential for brain development — it affects brain function, metabolism and structure,” he adds. “From studies, we see that adequate intake of DHA plays a crucial role in the cognitive development of children of three- to six-year-olds.” 

“Later in their lives, between six and 12 years old, we see that DHA intake has a big impact on improved learning ability, memory retention and attention span, which we find important when kids go to school.”