The three products are meant to be taken at three different times of the day, namely 1) a probiotics fibre powder drink for gut and immune health at 7am, 2) a multi protein powder drink for mobility at 2pm, and 3) an evening powder drink for sleep and brain health at 9pm.
Sold under the name ‘Ganmai’ （敢迈）which means daring to take a step out, the product line “advocates the spirit of taking challenge and accepting new things”, according to the firm.
Healthy ageing has been a portfolio for Danone, on top of early life nutrition and medical nutrition, with the firm having formulated products such as Souvenaid powder and RTD drink for supporting memory function in individuals at the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in Australia.
This time round, the new products are designed to address the most prevalent ageing-related conditions among Chinese age 40 and above.
This is also in line with the Chinese government’s national health agenda listed in the 14th Five-Year Plan unveiled on May 20. One of the plans is to combine the advantage of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western medicine, as well as to drive technological innovation in TCM.
“As China’s aging population continues to grow, healthy aging has become a priority on Chinese society and government’s agenda. Ganmai seeks to provide the needed nutrition for people aged above 40, to better prepare them for a healthy aging life,” said Gregg Ward, Head of the Danone Open Science Research Center said.
“Ganmai was an innovation developed by the Danone Open Science Research Center for Life-transforming Nutrition, in collaboration with leading global and Chinese Scientific experts, to target the most important Chinese conditions of ageing.
“The products use cutting-edge ingredients, including evidence-based Chinese functional food ingredients and the latest scientific research. An international patent application has been filed to protect the innovation for the products,” Ward added.
Ingredients used
The products use a mix of pre/probiotics, collagen peptide, GABA, spine date seed, and L-leucine etc.
For instance, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 and Lactobacillus paracasei 431 were used in the 7am Probiotics Fiber Powder Drink. Other ingredients include prebiotic fibers, acerora cherry and honey.
In the 2pm Multi Protein Light Drink focuses on mobility, ingredients such as whey protein isolate, L-leucine, vitamin D, calcium and collagen peptide were used.
Lastly, the 9pm Nutritional Evening Drink for sleep and brain health contains GABA, spine date seed, and fish oil.
All three products are made in China.
Why online?
At the moment, the products are only sold online on Tmall and Douyin.
Asked the reasons for selling healthy ageing products online, Ward pointed out the prevalence of going online among the middle-aged population.
“Nowadays, people age 40 and above are also a very important consumer group on online channels.
“For example, according to a research report published by CSM Media Research, people over 50 years old already take up more than 25 per cent of the total short-video platform users in China,” he said.
In the same vein, the firm has launched a Ganmai digital health tool for consumers to customise and track their own functional nutritional performance, as it believes that the future is about integrating nutritional products and services together.