Elderly nutrition products processing company

For brands and entrepreneurs who want to enter the track of elderly nutrition products, the core judgment criterion for selecting cooperative elderly nutrition products processing companies has never been the price, but "the compliance ability to adapt to the needs of the elderly group + the flexibility of the supply chain that matches its own scale." This is the most practical conclusion I gained after running the supply chain for two years, working with three friends to build their own brands, and stepping on nearly 100,000 yuan of pitfalls.

A while ago, I accompanied a friend who works in a community senior group to visit seven OEM factories in the Yangtze River Delta. He originally wanted to make his own brand of amino sugar and protein powder for middle-aged and elderly people. He searched for quotes first and chose the cheapest one for proofing. As a result, the sample was sent back for filing. The formula was a basic version of ordinary amino sugar for young adults. The sodium content was 17% higher than the recommended daily intake for the elderly. Elderly people with high blood pressure risks could not eat it at all, and the 20,000 yuan sample fee was wasted.

Don’t think I’m exaggerating. Last year, a blogger I knew who was a Douyin account for the elderly found a factory to make glucosamine that quoted a price that was 30% lower than the market price. As soon as he sold 2,000 orders, he was randomly inspected and found that the content of glucosamine hydrochloride was only 60% of the label. He was directly fined 120,000, and his account was restricted to more than half. The gain outweighed the loss. There are actually two completely opposite selection logics in the industry now. Many novices who have just entered the industry believe in "cost first" and think that older people only want to buy things cheaply. They should lower the price first and then make a profit if they can sell it. ； There are also new consumer brands that are not short of money and believe that "top quality is king". As soon as they come up, they look for leading listed OEMs. They want to pile all the organic, imported raw materials, and blue hat certifications on the packaging, thinking that with the endorsement, they will not worry about selling.

Both logics have their own applicable scenarios, but the probability of being pitted is not low. Needless to say, cost is a priority. Nowadays, the "new seniors" aged 55-70 are not the group that everyone thinks of only looking at price. The last time my mother bought calcium tablets, she held up the package and asked me if sucrose was added, whether it would raise blood sugar, and if there were questions about the ingredients of the product. The problem is that eating it has no effect, and repeat customers cannot be retained at all. In addition, the frequency of random inspections of nutritional supplements for the elderly is now three times higher than that of ordinary food. Small OEMs can easily catch the problems of reducing ingredients and exceeding the standard of bacterial colonies. Penalty once is basically equal to the elimination of the brand.

The pitfalls of the top-end route are actually more hidden. Of course, the qualifications and compliance of the leading foundry are fine, but the minimum order quantity is terrifyingly high. For example, an order of ordinary protein powder starts at 50,000 cans. How can a small brand just entering the market dare to hold so many goods? What's even more troublesome is that the formulas of large factories are all standardized assembly lines. If you have to make small adjustments such as "reduce sodium by 30%, add xylitol instead of sucrose, and grind the powder to 400 mesh for easy swallowing," you have to wait 3 months in the R&D queue, and you have to pay an additional hundreds of thousands in customization fees. You can't keep up with the popular nodes of community groups and live broadcasts. My friend also asked a domestic leading OEM at the beginning. They directly told him to change the formula and add 200,000 R&D fees, and the minimum order was 100,000 cans. He persuaded him to quit on the spot.

If you really want to find a suitable foundry, you don’t have to focus on reputation and quotation. Last year, the "Old Neighbor Food" that organized a neighborhood group in Hangzhou found a medium-sized OEM factory in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. That factory had been processing liquid food for the nutrition department of the hospital. It already understood the needs of the elderly group. You don't need to mention the requirements such as low GI, no sucrose, and easy to swallow. They have dozens of ready-made formulas in their library, and they have all the registration qualifications for special meals. The minimum order quantity is only 5,000 cans, and they can help you prepare formulas according to your target customer groups for free. The sucrose-free calcium D soft capsules they launched last year sold 120,000 cans in 3 months, without any compliance issues.

Here is a tip for factory inspections. Many OEM factories say on their promotional pages that they have a dedicated elderly nutrition research and development team. You can find out whether it is true or false by asking: "For elderly people over 75 years old with dysphagia, at what mPa·s can the viscosity of your powder be controlled after preparation?" ”Those who can't answer the question are basically talking to nutritionists. Anyone who has actually done nutrition for the elderly knows that the viscosity must be controlled between 50 and 300. If it is too thin, it will make you choke, and if it is too thick, you will not be able to swallow it. These are all standards that were discovered after going to the clinic and feeding the elderly. Also, don’t just look at the SC certificate hanging on the wall, but also look through their sample room to see if there are any passing inspection records for the elderly category in the past three years, and if there is any product experience for special groups such as dysphagia, diabetes, hypertension, etc. These are much more reliable than the promises made by sales.

In the final analysis, the core audience of nutritional products for the elderly is the elderly. It is not just about purchasing based on parameters. If the OEM you are looking for requires you to repeatedly mention the most basic needs such as "the elderly are afraid of sweets, saltiness, and have trouble swallowing", then no matter how low the price is or how famous the brand is, don't touch it. After all, when doing business for the elderly, reliability is more important than anything else.