Hero Group enters China's infant formula market

BEIJING - Consumer goods giant Hero Group entered China's infant formula market Thursday by selling its products directly through a Chinese company, the group announced at a press conference held in Beijing on Thursday.

The product launched was Hero Nutradefense, one of the many brands under the group's infant nutrition and fruit division.

"Hero Nutradefense is one of our finest brands and we are proud to launch this product on the Chinese market. We hope to be able to contribute to the healthy growth of Chinese babies," said Peter Amon, chief executive director of the group.

Jampoo Union Corp, based in Suzhou of east China's Jiangsu province, was announced as the agency selling the products.

The baby formula market in China has already seen many foreign brands such as Dumex and Wyeth and it is not the visibility of the brand that matters, but the trust that consumers have in a brand, said Chenghua Yang, managing director of Publicis Groupe's Shanghai office.

"The Hero Nutradefense products were produced in the Netherlands and only the purest Dutch milk is used in the production," said Amon.

"I have full confidence in our products, as they were 100 percent from the Dutch cows and have been clinically tested and external experts were brought in to give their independent opinions," said Dr. Stefan Bodenstab, vice president of Hero Group's quality and research and development division for infant nutrition.

Founded in 1886 in Lenzburg, Switzerland, Hero Group is mainly engaged in producing products in its core product categories of infant nutrition and fruit and employs over 4,000 people in more than 30 countries.