The Race Is On: Global Food Giants Are Expanding HMO Beyond Formula — Snacks and Biscuits Are Next

The alarm bell is ringing. While most of the world is still catching up with the HMO revolution in infant formula, a seismic shift is already underway — and the next target is your product shelf. HMO (human milk oligosaccharides) is breaking out of the formula aisle and charging straight into snacks, biscuits, and complementary foods. If you're a food manufacturer who hasn't started thinking about HMO, you're already behind.

This isn't speculation. It's pattern recognition — and the data makes it impossible to ignore.

The HMO Arms Race: A Category at Boiling Point

Let's be clear about where we stand. The global infant formula market has entered full-scale HMO warfare, and the battle is intensifying.

Abbott completed the largest HMO infant formula clinical study ever conducted in the United States — a landmark trial involving 607 infants. Their Similac 360 Total Care formula, enriched with five distinct HMOs, delivered clinically validated outcomes across gut health, immune support, and neurodevelopmental markers. This was not a small pilot. This was a 607-baby declaration that HMO science is settled.

Then came Wyeth (backed by Nestlé), which dropped a bombshell in August 2025 with the global launch of their 10-HMO formulation — the first of its kind anywhere in the world. HMO content increased by 600% compared to earlier generations, backed by proprietary technology reportedly restoring 80% of the bioactive factors found in breast milk.

The global HMO infant formula market is now expanding from USD 4.5 billion in 2025 toward USD 8.8 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.2%. When a category accelerates at double-digit CAGR, it's not a trend — it's a structural market shift. And structural shifts don't stop at one aisle.

The Inevitable Spillover: Why Snacks Are Next

Here's the logic running through every strategic planning room at every major food company right now:

The formula market is saturating. Abbott has five HMOs. Wyeth has ten. a2, Arla, FrieslandCampina, and Biostime are all in the race. When every major player reaches HMO parity in infant formula, the next frontier for differentiation isn't in formula — it's everywhere else.

Abbott has already proven the principle by moving HMO into Similac Alimentum, their hypoallergenic formula. HMO doesn't belong exclusively in standard infant formula. It can be engineered across product types and use cases. Wyeth's "Synergistic Nutritional Constellation" concept — the idea that HMO is the architectural core of a new generation of food formulations — points toward something bigger. When a brand starts thinking about HMO as a platform technology rather than a single product feature, the natural extension is: biscuits, snacks, and complementary foods.

The global functional food movement is accelerating this. Consumers — especially parents — are demanding that every food item deliver genuine nutritional value. "Functional snacking" has moved from niche wellness circles into mainstream grocery aisles. HMO, with its clinically proven gut and immune benefits, is the natural next ingredient to carry that functional promise beyond formula into the everyday foods children already eat.

Asia Has Already Fired the Starting Gun

While some markets are still debating HMO's potential, China has already crossed the threshold into actual HMO snack and complementary food products.

Akita Manman (秋田满满) launched the world's first HMO-added organic rice cereal in May 2025, partnering with Humacro (虹摹生物), Kerry, and Beingmate to capitalize immediately on the expanded regulatory approval for 2'-FL.

Xiaolulanlan (小鹿蓝蓝) — China's top online baby food brand with annual revenues approaching 800 million RMB — escalated the stakes in March 2026 with the launch of the market's first HMO-added infant biscuit. A full-scale product launch in the biscuit category, incorporating HMO alongside calcium, iron, zinc, and DHA under China's stringent infant food standards.

Yingshang (婴尚) followed in April 2026 with a premium organic rice cereal delivering 2,800mg of HMO per serving, targeting infants 8 months and older.

Critically: China's regulatory pathway is wide open. In May 2025, 2'-FL was officially approved for use in infant cereal-based and canned complementary foods. The legal barriers that once blocked HMO from biscuits and snacks have been removed. The pathway is open. The question is who walks through it first.

Global Giants Won't Sit Idle — And They Are Watching

Here is what should keep every food manufacturer up at night: Xiaolulanlan, Akita Manman, and Yingshang are not operating in a vacuum. They are being watched.

Nestlé, Danone, Abbott, and Reckitt Mead Johnson control enormous portfolios of baby snacks, biscuits, and complementary food products globally. They have the R&D infrastructure, the regulatory expertise, the manufacturing capacity, and the brand relationships to move fast once a signal is confirmed.

That signal is unmistakable: Asian brands are already selling HMO biscuits and complementary foods. The competitive logic is brutally simple — if it works in China, it will work in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. The same consumer desire for functional nutrition that drove HMO adoption in formula is present in every market.

When global food giants see Xiaolulanlan's HMO biscuits selling in China, their strategy teams are already running the numbers. The question for manufacturers is not whether global HMO snacks and biscuits are coming — it's whether you'll be supplying the ingredients when they do, or scrambling to catch up after the market has already been claimed.

The Window Is Open — But It Won't Stay That Way

Policy, science, supply chain, and consumer demand are aligned as never before. The regulatory pathway for HMO in complementary foods is established. Abbott's 607-infant trial and Wyeth's 10-HMO platform have moved HMO from scientific promise to established clinical fact. China's Mengniu Humacro became the first domestic manufacturer to secure approval for all three major HMOs — 2'-FL, LNnT, and 3'-SL — winning a World Dairy Innovation Award in the process. High-quality domestic HMO supply is no longer a bottleneck. And parents who buy HMO formula today will demand HMO snacks tomorrow.

These four pillars rarely align this cleanly. When they do, the window for first-mover advantage is measured in months, not years. Every month of inaction is a month your competitors are using to lock in supplier relationships, build formulation expertise, and establish brand recognition that late entrants will struggle to overcome.

The Time to Move Is Now

The question is not if HMO will enter the global snack and biscuit market. The evidence from China makes that outcome virtually certain. The question is when — and whether your company will be positioned to act when the moment arrives, or still be waiting for a certainty that has already materialized.

Morika Bio supplies high-quality HMO ingredients — including 2'-FL, LNnT, and related functional oligosaccharides — to support product development across infant nutrition, snacks, and functional food categories. If you're ready to build with HMO, the pathway is open. Reach out to discuss your HMO ingredient requirements.

The race has begun. The starting gun has fired. The only question left is where you stand when the medals are handed out.

References

1. Abbott Similac 360 Total Care — HMO Clinical Research & Innovation: Abbott Newsroom
2. Wyeth (Nestlé) 10-HMO Global Launch, August 2025: SZ News
3. Global HMO Infant Formula Market Forecast ($$4.5B →$$8.8B, CAGR 10.2%): YH Research
4. Xiaolulanlan First HMO Infant Biscuit Launch, March 2026: Weibo
5. Akita Manman World's First HMO Organic Rice Cereal, May 2025: Toutiao
6. Yingshang HMO Organic Rice Cereal (2,800mg HMO), April 2026: Yingshang
7. Mengniu Humacro Three HMO Approvals (2'-FL, LNnT, 3'-SL): Xinhua
8. CIIE 2025 — Over 130 HMO Infant Formula Products on Display: 163 News