Japanese baby product manufacturer Pigeon is planning to increase its investment in India and Western countries in order to reduce its reliance on China. The company also aims to attract more consumers from other brands to avoid market slowdown due to declining birth rates.
According to a report from Nikkei Asia on November 7th, Ryo Yano, the CEO of Pigeon, mentioned in an interview with Nikkei Asia, “Our profits have been heavily reliant on the Chinese market, so I believe it is crucial to find ways to expand and grow in other countries.”
Yano stated, “In the past, we have been trying to expand our business in developing countries in Asia, but the growth there has been relatively slow. Therefore, we need to ensure a balanced profit, including in the European and American markets.”
The interview took place during a global management dialogue forum held in Tokyo, co-organized by Nikkei Asia and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Pigeon is a Japanese mother and baby product manufacturer founded in 1957. The company is known for its “natural feel” technology, offering a wide range of products such as bottles, nipples, bathing products, skincare items, dedicated to providing high-quality mother and baby care products and services to families. Pigeon developed Japan’s first screw-top wide-mouth bottle in 1949 and entered the Chinese market in 2002, setting up factories there. The company claims to have the largest share in the baby bottle market in China, but China’s birth rate is declining.
In 2025, China marked the tenth year since the implementation of the two-child policy. However, under the shadow of nearly 40 years of the one-child policy, China’s population has entered a period of continuous negative growth, with the total population decreasing from 2022 to 2024. The persistently low birth rates resulted in a decline in the number of births, with 18.83 million in 2016 and only 9.02 million in 2023.
Yano expressed that Pigeon needs to explore untapped “blank” markets, with India standing out particularly in Asia, surpassing China in population to become the world’s most populous country.
The company is currently collaborating with modern retailers such as pharmacies and chain drugstores and increasing its presence on e-commerce platforms to build its brand image in India.
In the Western markets, Pigeon sells breast-feeding and mother and baby care products under another brand called Lansinoh, but has not yet introduced its flagship product, baby bottles, in India. Baby bottles account for over 30% of its sales and are the company’s largest product category.
“The global decline in birth rates is surpassing expectations, which poses as a disadvantage for our company. In this environment, we cannot continue to expand our business at the previous pace,” Yano stated. “Therefore, starting next year, we will focus on selling our products, especially baby bottles, in Europe and the United States.”