New ‘Kendamil’ Lines On Horizon For 2017

Kendamil’, the infant formula brand that has already caused a stir in 2016, by formulating to a nutritious full-cream, whole-milk recipe, rather than a skimmed recipe resting heavily on vegetable oils, is making further innovations heading into 2017.

The pioneering brand, manufactured by the can-do orientated Kendal Nutricare, in a factory in Kendal in Cumbria where many employees have over 20 years’ experience in baby food production and pharmaceutical research, is launching a ‘Kendamil Organic’ and a ‘Kendamil Goat’ formula in early 2017.

Furthermore, the only infant formula to be manufactured in Britain will have no palm oil within its low-level vegetable oil blend, as from its next production run, as Kendal Nutricare cuts back even further on the oils it believes cause infants discomfort, constipation and digestive issues.  Palm oil will only be used to a very small degree as an emulsifier.

Although some use of oils is necessary within a formula, ‘Kendamil’ will prove that palm oil does not have to be a key ingredient and a much-reduced level of vegetable oils is perfectly possible, if the recipe relies on the natural nutritional benefits of mammals’ milk fat, in the form of cream.

Whilst an infant formula claiming to be ‘palm-free’ is now on sale in the UK, parents are asked to pay a dear price for the privilege (around £14 for 850g).  Kendamil’s 900g tins will still retail below the £10 mark.

When it comes to overall vegetable oil usage, no other manufacturer has reduced this to the level achieved in ‘Kendamil’.

‘Kendamil’ has already proved a huge hit in China, being sold in over 2000 mother and baby stores currently and in 6000 very soon.  In Britain, it is available online at www.kendamil.com and at Amazon.

Parents around Kendal were early converts, thanks to witnessing better sleep patterns for their children and no digestion or constipation issues.  In many cases, they buy direct from the factory shop.

Export sales of ‘Kendamil’ are already buoyant, with the most recent contracts signed with distributors across North Africa.  The ‘Kendamil’ sales team is taking all three ‘Kendamil’ variants to Gulfood 2017 in February, and hopes to attract more overseas buyers seeking a premium product at an affordable price.

All of this is excellent news for the 220 dairy farmers in Cumbria and Lancashire supplying the farm fresh milk that goes into the wet-blended ‘Kendamil’ formula.  New beneficiaries will be the organic milk and goat milk providers from which Kendal Nutricare will be taking its new supplies.

This focus on supporting local farmers stands the ‘Kendamil’ brand in good stead when it comes to traceability and provenance.  Unlike other infant formulas, mainly manufactured in Poland and Ireland, ‘Kendamil’ is a British product with Red Tractor accreditation thanks to its traceability and use of locally produced milk.

Should the new Parliamentary Bill proposed by MP Alison Thewliss seek to insist that infant formula tins carry details of the country of origin, as well as a factory code, ‘Kendamil’ is likely to benefit even more, once parents actually realise where what they assumed was a British infant formula is actually produced.  This Bill will receive its second reading in February.

Kendal Nutricare’s CEO, Ross McMahon, says: “2016 has been an interesting year for ‘Kendamil’. We have come to understand the lack of parental awareness that exists in relation to the origins of infant formula and the ingredients that are in a tin and are now reinforcing our unique selling points even more, as we drive home the message that it is not necessary to make such a heavy use of vegetable oils in a formula, or to produce a ‘palm oil-free’ product at an exorbitant price.

“We also need to ensure that supermarket buyers are equally concerned by the components of other formulas and help make parents aware that there is an option available for those who wish their child to have the type of wholesome formula that existed in yesteryear.

“We have gone ‘retro’, if you wish to look at it in this way, reverting to the type of wholesome, nutritious recipe that was previously on the market before manufacturers took the decision to remove the cream and use it in other products, leaving children with a formula of skimmed milk and oils that has a relatively low cost base.   As is so often the case, reverting to a ‘traditional recipe’, like that used by our grandparents, provides more wholesome goodness.”

More details about Kendal Nutricare and ‘Kendamil’ can be found at www.kendalnutricare.com and www.kendamil.com respectively.  Ross McMahon can also be contacted on 01539 877074.

Kendal Nutricare will be exhibiting at the Winter Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, between January 21 and 24, to open up new markets in the USA, Canada and Mexico for its Kendamil standard, organic and goat ranges, as well as its Kendamil cereals range.