LG Household & Healthcare exits baby food market

LG Household & Healthcare’s Kindermilch Biotics Formula, a probiotics supplement drink for babies. [LG HOUSEHOLD & HEALTHCARE]

LG Household & Healthcare is exiting the baby food market as Korea’s falling birthrate has pulled down demand.

The company said Friday it will stop producing all of its baby food products starting next year. Production of products including the Kindermilch Biotics Formula, a probiotics supplement for babies, and its Kabrita Goat Milk-based Growing-up Formula, its powdered milk formula, will be stopped. They are all sold under the company’s Babience brand, which sells baby food, baby body washes and lotions.

Remaining stock of baby food products will be sold online and at discount stores, and is expected to last until February next year. When the stock sells out, Babience’s online shopping mall will be shut down.

The company will continue to offer the baby skin care products it used to sell under the Babience brand, but will sell them at LG Household & Healthcare’s online shopping mall once the Babience online mall shuts down.

LG Household & Healthcare said it decided to stop offering baby food products due to the low fertility rate pulling down demand for baby products.

Korea’s total fertility rate, or the average number of births a women is projected to give during her reproductive years — was 0.81 in 2021 according to Statistics Korea. That’s down 0.03 compared to the previous year and is the lowest in the world.

LG Household & Healthcare first entered the baby product market in 2012 with the Babience brand. It was the first Korean company to sell ready-to-feed goat milk formula for babies in 2017.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]