Mikhail Mishchenko: baby food on the shelf is an illusion market

According to the expert, this is primarily due to the fact that manufacturers of dairy products for children in most cases independently refer their products to this category. In addition, parents themselves are responsible for the life and health of their children and make their own decisions about the children's diet.

- It turns out that the segment of products for children is essentially no different from the segments for the elderly, athletes and other categories of specialized nutrition. In my opinion, any regulations concerning products for children should be exclusively advisory in nature, - said Mikhail Mishchenko, quoted by The DairyNews.

He also spoke about pseudo-children's products that representatives of retail chains deliberately put lower on the shelf in order to expand the demand for them, drawing the attention of young consumers.

In this regard, Elena Simonenko, Head of the Department for forecasting technological research and innovative development of the Research Institute of baby food, noted that sometimes manufacturers themselves make decisions about what to call baby food products. The idea of the product is created by using various stylized images, such as the sun, fruit, etc., as a result of which the usual product passes into the category of children's products, but it is not.

According to the expert, manufacturers and the scientific community, including pediatricians, should have a common position on the category of baby food. The most important thing in such products is quality, stressed Elena Simonenko.

- I do not agree that baby food is identical to specialized products for the elderly or athletes. I am interested to know how the consequences of such a policy can be assessed if regulations are not followed or quality is maintained. Hence the there is a cumulative effect in prospects of the market. Preservatives and colorants are prohibited in baby food, but if you miss compliance with the regulations, manufacturers will be able to add anything to it, - said Elena Simonenko.

Mikhail Mishchenko replied that along with pseudo-children's products, there may be pseudo-regulations that regulate them. As for the further effect, there is a reality that is difficult to change. According to the expert, the current regulatory system does not work objectively.

- We can make any regulations, but this will not stop the child when he comes to the store and takes the product at the height of his growth. In addition, this is exactly the product that the manufacturer offered him. Moreover, in catering establishments there is a standard children's menu, which includes French fries, vegetable salad and chicken broth, - said Mikhail Mishchenko.

The expert noted that the issue of the quality of so-called children's products is very important, but it faces an unchanging reality in which standards are not always observed. It follows that the baby food market is a kind of illusion.

According to Elena Simonenko, baby food is quite an expensive product and against the background of the current economic situation, it is not always profitable for the manufacturer to create a quality product, as well as register it and call it "specialized children's". It is easier for some dishonest companies to create pseudo-children's products, but this is not penalized if it is not called "children’s".

- Hence the problems of regulating this process arise. As long as there is no punishment for creating a low-quality product, it will be profitable for the manufacturer to create it, said Elena Simonenko.

Mikhail Mishchenko noted that instilling the consumption of high-quality products is important, but it is impossible to unite all consumers, since their number is quite big. With the reduction of consumers in this segment, with a decrease in the number of births, the demand for the specialized segment will increase.

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