Bubs Australia muscles into post-infant market via launch of organic toddler snacks

Bubs Australia (ASX: BUB) has tapped into the post-infant nutrition market segment with the launch of organically-certified toddler snacks.

According to Bubs, the eight-snack range is based on organic vegetables, fruits, ancient grains and nutrient dense superfoods suitable for children aged one-to-five years of age.

The product range has been fully certified by the Australian Certified Organic (ACO).

Opening orders are expected to be delivered to Coles in early May 2019, with on-shelf implementation forecast for late-May.

Bubs founder and chief executive officer Kristy Carr said the latest development ensures the company can cater for all feeding occasions, from newborn through to preschool.

“The new organic toddler snacks extend our consumer lifespan, or period of potential customer engagement, which previously covered the first 1,000 days of a child’s life through infant years,” she said.

“This is driven by changing lifestyles for busy parents, as families become more mobile and are looking for convenient nutritious snacks to give their children out-of-home or in a healthy lunchbox.”

Bubs is encouraged by the fact that the toddler snack market is on the rise, citing statistics showing the sector recently generated $33 million in grocery sales per annum.

The move into the post-infant market is tipped to pay off financially, with Bubs revealing the new innovative products could generate several millions of dollars of additional domestic sales for the company.

Natural line extension

Founded in 2006, Bubs specialises in the provision of infant formula and organic baby food, cereals and toddler snacks.

The company said the toddler snacks enjoy healthy margins and therefore remain an important component of its business.

“Furthermore, this category growth is being driven by premiumisation and product innovation from organic brands, so it is a natural line extension for Bubs innovation pipeline,” Mrs Carr said.

Earlier this month, Bubs entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with one of China’s leading domestic infant nutrition companies, Beingmate China.

Under the proposed partnership, Beingmate will distribute Bubs’ infant formula and organic baby food through its 30,000 stores in China.

Bubs’ baby food range is already sold across 500 stores in China and its infant formula is sold into China via several cross-border e-commerce and online-to-offline platforms.

“Should the proposed joint venture with Beingmate be formalised in the coming month, as we expect, we will continue to actively roll out our entire food portfolio into the Chinese Mother and Baby store channel,” Mrs Carr said today.