Older shopping is the latest thing for consumer brands

The pandemic has harmed older people excessively, which according to managers keeps the importance of staying healthy later in life.

That move leads to companies like Nestle SA,

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Colgate-Palmolive Co.

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and Danone SA

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introducing new products aimed at consumers, they believe they are increasingly interested in aging well.

“We see that healthy aging, even more so now with the Covid world, is a big trend,” said Danman CEO Emmanuel Faber.

Danone said in November that it would set up a new unit for healthy aging to accelerate research on how nutrition affects cognition and mobility. The Activia yogurt manufacturer recently launched Fortifit Pro in Brazil, a whey protein product that claims to help muscles, joints and bones, and said it plans to develop more products designed to age people better.

According to the UN, the number of countries with more than 20% of the population aged 65 or older from 15 last year to 44 by 2030, according to the UN. It is predicted to be 61 by 2050, when it will include the US, China. and Brazil.

Researchers estimate that economic uncertainty regarding Covid-19 will also accelerate declining birth rates in the US and China.

Nestle launched a powdered milk drink in China last month under its Yiyang brand, aimed at older adults, which they say increases mobility during aging.

Over the past few years, the company’s health science unit has shifted its focus from making food and beverages to rehabilitating people in hospitals, to helping prevent people from being admitted in the first place, said Greg Behar, head of the unit. said.

“There are more and more people who want to proactively manage their health in the aging process,” he said. Behar said. ‘What affects people the most is a decrease in physical and cognitive functions. Then there is also the beauty and skin element. ‘

About 20% of Nestle Health Science’s research budget is now dedicated to aging. The company uses small nematodes, known as C. elegans, which age rapidly with a lifespan of just two days to test the nutritional hypotheses.

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, which makes the baby and family brand Enfamil, has also introduced a milk drink aimed at older consumers in China, which contains ingredients to boost the immune system.

Overall, Reckitt says the Chinese market for additive milk is worth £ 500 million, equivalent to $ 686 million, and is growing at 13% a year. The company is developing several products to take advantage of the self-sufficiency trend, and expects Covid-19 to accelerate demand.

Other businesses are adapting products to serve older people who they think will spend longer at home, rather than in auxiliary places.

IKEA has started selling upright armchairs with higher seats to make it easier to get up on reclining footstools to promote blood circulation and pot grabbers to turn off lids, including products aimed at people with limited mobility, including the elderly.

Britt Monti, a senior designer who worked on the collection, says the series is part of an effort to take care of design for people with different abilities in IKEA’s products. IKEA has labeled the range as specifically for the elderly, she added.

“Especially later in life you do not want to be labeled a parent,” she said. Monti said. “We do not want to make a big thing out of it, we just want it to be a natural part of the design process.”

Procter & Gamble Co.

last year began selling a razor intended for caregivers in Canada, where the company according to data shows that one in four people provides assistance to someone with aging needs, a disability or long-term health condition. The Gillette Treo, already available in the US, has a safety comb and a wider handle filled with shaving gel designed to give caregivers better control while shaving off their elderly.

In beauty and skin care, older consumers tend to spend more, making it an important demographic for companies like L’Oréal SA

. In France, women over the age of 65 spend 184 euros a year, equivalent to $ 223, on beauty products, compared to € 120 for 25 to 30-year-olds, said Delphine Viguier, global brand president for L’Oréal Paris.

Last year, the company said growth in the skin care market has accelerated, in part due to an aging population. It expects the trend to continue in the longer term.

Others have been successful in targeting aging consumers at younger consumers.

When Colgate launched a luxury amino acid toothpaste in China last year that sought to reverse the visible signs of gum aging, the company focused its marketing on a young audience through bloggers and social media applications. Colgate followed the approach after Filorga, its facial aging brand, became popular online among women between the ages of 25 and 35. The company says 80% of buyers who buy Colgate Miracle Repair are under 30 years old.

“In China, aging is for the young consumer,” Colgate CEO Noel Wallace said last year. “They take products against aging – whether it’s the skin of the skin or not – and would very much like to offer many benefits to themselves.”

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri by [email protected]