Mexico Baby Food Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Product Type (Dried Baby Food, Milk Formula, Prepared Baby Food, Others), By Type (Organic, Non-Organic), And By Distribution Channel (Online, Offline) - Forecasts From 2022 To 2027

Mexico's baby food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.47% to reach US$3,647.456 million by 2027, from US$2,512.149 million in 2020.

The baby food market in the country is expected to witness steady growth during the forecast period because it contains critical nutrients that help in newborn growth, it is further regarded to be a suitable alternative for breast milk. Baby food targets children aged four months to two years. Due to the convenience and superior nutrition they give, parents have turned to packaged meals throughout the years. They demand the greatest levels of safety and quality in newborn nourishment. Products are continually being reformulated by key market participants to appeal to both parents and newborns.

Over the projected period, the expanding working-women population and the organized retail industry, particularly in developing nations, are likely to fuel market expansion.

The growing number of females working outside the house who are supplementing breast milk with milk formula due to short maternity breaks is driving up demand for infant food such as milk formula. This, together with increased knowledge among them about the need of providing nutritious meals, is encouraging them to choose baby food, favorably boosting baby food demand.

Major Players

According to WHO and UNICEF, more than half of expecting mothers and breastfeeding mothers are influenced by the marketing done by the companies that produce milk formula products, and therefore end up buying those products. Furthermore, international firms dominate the baby food industry in Mexico, while native brands are comparatively still growing. Nestlé dominates the industry, accounting for a significant share of total retail sales, and outperforms its competitors in all categories, as seen by its dominance of nine-tenths of the dried baby food sector and prepared baby food sector, among others. It has lately released creative product designs that demonstrate its leadership position. For instance, Apple and Strawberry Flavored Cereal, which is supplemented with six vitamins and minerals, as well as Sodium Free Purified Water for Babies, which has a balanced mineral content while being light on a baby's stomach and is Kosher certified, are examples of such items.

Feeding Trends in Mexico

The rate of early breastfeeding initiation in Mexico, based on the 2019 Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey, was close to 48%. Nevertheless, only 28% of infants under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed, which is lower than the regional (38%) and global (44%) average rates for this age category in the same year.  The WHA's aim of raising the rate of exclusive breastfeeding to a minimum of 50% by 2025 is still not met by the numbers. At one year of age, 47% of Mexican children were mostly exclusively breastfed, although over 43% of infants younger than 12 months were given commercial formula.

Growth of online platforms

Many businesses have witnessed potential business opportunities in the online baby food market in Mexico and therefore have settled on e-commerce platforms to establish baby food product stores there itself. Online platforms have been gaining popularity due to various attributes such as easy accessibility, festive offers, and quality assurance.  The current parental generation of newborns is majorly working, on online platforms, they find it easier to shop, due to restricted time constraints.

Market Restraints

Mexican laws and regulations can limit the marketing of baby food products. For instance, the six legal instruments that make up the relevant national rules cover the marketing, branding, and labeling of Breast-milk Substitutes (BMS) products as well as the labeling of foods and non-alcoholic beverages for infants and young children. These regulations apply to diverse product kinds, including infant formula, follow-up formula, growing-up milk products, formulas for specific medicinal uses, and complementary foods, in various marketing and labeling contexts.

Market Key Developments

• In June 2022, as part of its efforts to alleviate broad-based supply shortages caused by the closure of the largest U.S. production facility, the Biden administration announced that it would provide material support to import an equal amount of about 16 million 8-ounce baby formula containers from Mexico.
• In May 2022, Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L), the producer of Enfamil, started to work with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on methods to enhance infant formula supply, including accelerating the certification of some products manufactured in Mexico. In addition, the company also stated that it is collaborating with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase the availability of formula through the women, babies, and children program, which assists low-income moms in obtaining baby formula.

Mexico Baby Food Market Scope:

Segmentation

• By Product Type
  • Dried Baby Food
  • Milk Formulation
  • Prepared Baby Food
  • Others
• By Type
  • Organic
  • Non-Organic
• By Distribution Channel
  • Online
  • Offline