(Yicai) May 15 -- Sales of milk powder for middle-aged and elderly people in China increased more than 27 percent in the first quarter, mainly thanks to the expanding consumer base and product innovation.

Middle-aged and elderly milk powder accounted for 5 percent of the total sales in China’s dairy industry in the three months ended March 31, up from 4 percent a year earlier, according to data from WinWin Network, a Chinese big data service provider for the fast-moving consumer goods industry.

The growth in sales of middle-aged and elderly milk powder comes from the widening consumer base, Feng Peiwei, general manager of Dutch Cow, the adult milk powder brand under Synutra Nutrition Food, told Yicai. In the past, customers for this category were mainly people aged above 60, but as people pay more attention to health, more and more consumers aged 40 to 60 have started purchasing milk powder, he added.

In addition, the gradual transition of middle-aged and elderly milk powder from traditional whole milk powder to a functional nutrition product targeting bone, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular health has driven market expansion, Feng explained.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, middle-aged and elderly people’s attention to health has been increasing year by year, and they have gradually accepted milk powder, Song Liang, an independent dairy industry analyst, told Yicai. Coupled with the better consumer experience brought by functional formulas, the popularity of middle-aged and elderly milk powder continues to rise, he added.

Another factor is that China’s population is also aging. Its elderly population reached 320 million at the end of last year, and it is expected to exceed 400 million by 2035. The scale of the silver economy is projected to surpass CNY30 trillion (USD4.4 trillion) by then.

An executive at a milk powder company told Yicai that the growth in middle-aged and elderly milk powder sales exceeded his expectations, maybe because of different channel samples in market research and the impact of displaced Chinese New Year sales data. In fact, the actual growth rate of the middle-aged and elderly milk powder market was within 10 percent last year.

Despite these considerations, middle-aged and elderly milk powder remains indeed one of the few hot categories with sustained growth in the milk powder industry in recent years, the executive noted.

Chinese dairy giant Yili Industrial Group said at a recent earnings meeting that its revenue from milk powder and dairy products rose 10 percent to CNY32.8 billion (USD4.8 billion) last year from 2024, with adult milk powder sales maintaining double-digit growth.

China Feihe, another leading dairy company, said its revenue from other dairy products, including middle-aged and elderly milk powder, soared 36 percent to CNY2.1 billion (USD303.1 million) in 2025 from the previous year, far exceeding the growth of the infant formula segment.

Feng expects that the growth of middle-aged and elderly milk powder will be more steady than explosive in the future.

Editor: Futura Costaglione