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A new survey commissioned by Arla Foods Ingredients has identified healthy growth and immunity as the health benefits most likely to influence mothers’ purchases of infant or toddler formula.

The company commissioned YouGov to survey 6,800 women in 13 different countries, all aged 18-45 and educated to at least college level, who were either pregnant or had children aged 0-4.

When asked an open question about the factors that mattered to them when choosing a formula product, 40% of the mothers named quality, 40% mentioned nutrients and ingredients, and 30% named health and safety. All of these ranked higher than price or brand.

The mothers were shown a list of health benefits and asked to choose three that were most important when buying formula. Healthy growth scored highest (chosen by 61%), followed by immunity (56%) and gut comfort (44%).

Only half of the mothers surveyed were able to name ingredients in infant formula. However, when prompted, lactose was very widely heard of, followed by probiotics, milk fat and plant proteins.

Mothers in Asian countries, especially China, displayed higher than average awareness of and preference for specialised protein ingredients like alpha-lactalbumin, whey protein hydrolysate and milk fat globule membrane.

The highest priority for mothers in terms of product labelling was nutritional information, which was considered more important than indications of organic status or sustainability-related features.

Viorela Andreea Indolean, industry marketing manager for Early Life Nutrition at Arla Foods Ingredients, said: “The goal of this research was to explore awareness of formula products, as well as the way priorities and preferences vary between markets. Although the names of specific ingredients aren’t top of mind for most mothers, it’s clear that when they’re shopping for formula, they’re thinking about health, safety and nutritional quality more than factors like price or brand.”

She added: “We hope these insights will be valuable for manufacturers – both in terms of understanding what parents want from formula products, and improving their understanding of the ingredients they contain”.