Older shoppers are the new news for consumer brands

The pandemic has caused disproportionate damage to the elderly, which leaders say has highlighted the importance of staying healthy later in life.

That shift is stimulating companies like Nestle TO,

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Colgate-Palmolive Co.

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and Danone TO

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to launch new products targeting consumers who they say are increasingly interested in healthy aging.

“We clearly see healthy aging, now even more so with the Covid world, as a huge trend,” said Danone Chief Executive Emmanuel Faber.

Danone said in November that it was establishing a new Healthy Aging Unit to accelerate research into the impact of diet on cognition and mobility. The Activia yogurt maker 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 help people age.

According to the UN, the number of countries with more than 20% of the population aged 65 or older will have increased from 15 last year to 44 by 2030, according to the UN. That number is expected to reach 61 by 2050, including the US, China and Brazil.

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

Nestlé launched a powdered milk drink in China under the Yiyang brand last month, targeting older adults, which is said to improve mobility during aging.

In recent years, the company’s health science division has shifted its focus from making food and drink to promote the recovery of people in hospitals, to preventing people from being hospitalized at all, said Greg Behar, who heads the unit.

“There are more and more people who want to proactively manage their health during the aging process,” said Mr. Behar. “What affects people the most is a decline in physical and cognitive functions, and then there’s the element of beauty and skin.”

About 20% of Nestlé Health Science’s research budget is now spent on aging. The company uses tiny nematode worms, known as C. elegans, which age quickly with a lifespan of just two days, to test its nutritional hypotheses.

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, which makes Enfamil for infant formula, has also launched a milk drink aimed at older consumers in China that is said to contain ingredients to boost the immune system.

Overall, Reckitt says the market in China for milk with added ingredients to provide specific benefits is worth £ 500 million, equivalent to $ 686 million, and growing at 13% per year. The company is developing several products to respond to the self-care trend and expects Covid-19 to accelerate demand.

Other companies are adapting products to serve older people who say they will live longer at home instead of assisted living.

IKEA has started selling upright armchairs with higher seats to make getting up easier, angled footstools to promote blood circulation and pot grippers to unscrew lids, among its products intended for people with reduced mobility, including the elderly .

The range is part of an effort to provide design catering to people with different abilities in IKEA products, said Britt Monti, a senior designer who has worked on the collection. IKEA stopped labeling the range as specifically for the elderly, she added.

“Certainly later in life you don’t want to be labeled a parent,” said Mrs. Monti. “We don’t want to make it into something big, we just want it to be a natural part of the design process.”

Procter & Gamble Co.

began selling a razor blade intended for health care providers in Canada last year, where the company said data shows one in four people provides assistance to someone with aging needs, a disability, or a long-term health condition. Already available in the US, the Gillette Treo has a safety comb and wider handle filled with shaving gel that is designed to give caregivers more control when shaving their elderly.

When it comes to beauty and skin care, older consumers tend to spend more, making them an important target audience for companies like L’Oréal TO

. In France, people over 65 spend EUR 184, equivalent to $ 223, annually on beauty products, compared to EUR 120 for 25-30 year olds, said Delphine Viguier, global brand president of L’Oréal Paris.

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

Others have found success targeting anti-aging products at younger consumers.

When Colgate launched a luxury amino acid toothpaste in China last year to reverse the visible signs of gum aging, the company focused its marketing on a young audience with the help of celebrity bloggers and social media apps. Colgate took the approach after Filorga, the anti-aging facial care brand, proved to be popular online with women between the ages of 25 and 35. The company said 80% of the customers who bought Colgate Miracle Repair were under the age of 30.

“In China, aging is for the young consumer,” said Colgate CEO Noel Wallace last year. “They are using anti-aging products – whether for skin health or otherwise – and very much looking for benefits for themselves at a young age.”

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at [email protected]