The global food and beverage conglomerate sees the women’s health market as an exciting one and is optimistic of its development.
Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia in the latest episode of “Behind the Big Story”, Renata Batal, Global Marketing Manager for Materna and Women’s Health at Nestle tells us more.
The rapid expansion of the women’s health market is one of the reasons for Nestle’s interest in this sector.
“For Nestle, being the largest food and beverage company, we are very privileged to be present in consumers’ life across different life stages, including women and their different life stages, with specific needs...
“It’s also very exciting to see that the women’s health market is expanding very rapidly,” said Batal.
According to Innova’s 2025 report on “Women’s health trends in Asia-Pacific”, Asia-Pacific is the leading region for women’s health targeted food and beverage launches, followed by Europe then North America in the past year.
“Over the past four years, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, and China have driven innovation in this space,” said the report.
The types of nutritional products available have also evolved from evening primrose oil to probiotics when it comes to supporting menopause.
There is also more attention into mitochondrial function for supporting fertility, and breastfeeding related conditions such as mastitis.
“We see that women are becoming more and more health conscious and wanting to take proactive action, especially when it comes to nutrition,” said Batal.
Nestle is hoping to offer tailored solutions to unlock future growth.
“It’s very exciting to us - the possibility of developing very much tailored solutions for their specific needs throughout their lives.
“We are very optimistic about the development plans that we have, as well as the geographical expansion,” she said.
Maternal health is one area where the company has been assessing for tailored solutions and new market opportunities.
In Asia-Pacific, the company has seen success from the brand Materna - which was acquired during Nestle’s global acquisition of Pfizer Nutrition back in 2012.
Some examples of products from Materna include the prenatal supplement Materna DHA and Materna Opti-Lac - which contains the probiotic strain L. fermentum LC40 that helps reduce the risk of breast pain and mastitis.
Materna Opti-Lac was first launched in Hong Kong back in 2019.
“Materna is a heritage brand from Pfizer Nutrition and it has already been present in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,” said Batal, citing strong support from healthcare professionals.
Nestle is now assessing new market opportunities for introducing the Materna brand. India is one of the potential markets.
As part of its assessment, the company is in the midst of understanding local nutritional needs, lifestyle habits, as well as regulatory requirements.
“India is a very interesting market for us. At the moment, we are understanding all the nutritional needs, the context, from lifestyle, nutritional needs, deficiencies and preferences of women locally, as well as also understanding the operational capabilities, how is it the best way for us to assess some of the opportunities when it comes to the geo-expansion of Materna globally.”
Nestle has been building up momentum for its women’s health business.
Earlier this year, Nestle R+D Accelerator held an innovation challenge targeting women’s health for the first time.
The initiative aims to address various women’s health needs from fertility to menstruation, and hormonal changes experienced during perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause.
Other concerns of interest include iron deficiency, joint pain, cardiovascular diseases, mood and sleep.
In April, it also published findings of a clinical trial examining the effects of probiotics supplementation on perinatal anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Writing in Scientific Reports, the researchers reported no conclusive findings, with no significant improvement seen in the mood scores of women taking probiotics and those on placebo.
Batal said that Nestle’s focus on women’s health was also aimed at fulfilling social responsibilities.
“Women’s health is very much aligned to our broader social goals, including gender inequality, women’s empowerment, and by addressing women’s health issues, we believe that Nestle can positively contribute to the society,” she said.
Watch the video to find out more.
