Infant Nutrition Mission to India

There is an exciting opportunity for Australia’s infant formula and toddler milk drink industry to diversify exports into Indian market. The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) entered into force on 29 December 2022 and will see the tariffs on infant formula will gradually reduce to 0% by 2028.

The Agreement provides a window of opportunity for the Australian Industry, with all major competitor importers continuing to attract tariffs of up to 50%.

Australia’s forefront position with this opportunity is further supported by India’s strong population growth, rising incomes, and an increasing rate of working women – all which are driving growth in the Indian infant nutrition market. An 8% increase in the average retail unit price in the baby food category in 2021 further demonstrates the accelerated premiumisation of infant formula in India.

Australian brands are already known for their quality and diverse range of premium conventional cow formula as well as A2, goat milk and specialised ingredients. The current environment presents a strong potential to capitalise on the infant nutrition premiumisation of India.

Infant Nutrition Mission to India aims to support Australia’s infant formula exporters to gain a better understanding of the Indian market’s potential, obtain first-hand information of export regulatory conditions, develop potential contacts for collaboration. As a joint project supported by Austrade, Global Victoria and the INC, this mission will visit four key cities of importance to the India dairy and infant nutrition industry. Specifically, it will assist Infant Formula exporters to:

• Meet with potential strategic partners in-country to explore distribution, co-branding/co–manufacturing/JVs/private labels/bulk-ingredient exports
• Understand the regulatory and compliance environment
• Understand the challenges and potential for Infant nutrition category for Australian Brands
• Explore and develop possible routes to the Indian market and models (modern trade, e-Commerce, co-manufacturing)
• Develop branding and pricing strategies in the local competition landscape
• Profile Australia’s capability in Dairy/Infant Nutrition