Innovation can't wait.Unlock faster NPD now.
Keeping up with today's consumer demands require teams to take a new approachfor collaboration at each stage of the product development process. Go Beyond R&DTrends, time-to-market, and the willingness to experiment
Ask anyone in the industry how long it takes them to get a new product on shelves and you’ll get a variety of answers. Five years ago, convention (and technology) established a two-year minimum turnaround time for NPD. But today, you’ll find shorter and shorter suggestions, ranging anywhere from three to 18 months with the average coming in right around nine months. It’s not coincidence that this corresponds to how quickly consumer trends, especially in F&B, can change. With the rise of social media, the demand for new snack foods, healthier options, beverages, and more can explode in a matter of hours or days—rather than months or years. Leaving brands without an efficient approach to innovation several cycles behind.
How many times have you had a proposed product fail because you couldn’t find the ingredients quickly enough or activate the right decision makers in time? How do you balance your research and development needs with food safety considerations? Or your responsiveness to consumer demands with the creativity of your team? A large part of NPD is asking “what’s possible?” and then bringing your answers to life. But if you can’t accomplish that quickly enough, you can bet your competitors will.
A realistic look at innovation today
%
of new product launches fail
%
of new products reach the market
%
of people tried new products during their last grocery run
More factors are influencing the NPD increase
At first glance, it seems like consumers are in the driver’s seat. But we wanted to conduct our own research before simplifying the recent shifts in product development. When we surveyed hundreds of food and beverage professionals earlier this year, their responses told a more complex story. R&D teams are tackling requests to reduce ingredient and/or manufacturing costs while balancing the competitive pressure to remain innovative. On top of the worries about satisfying ever-changing consumer preferences.
With all these influences at play, it’s clear that brands have a variety of both challenges and motivations. The key lies in overcoming the day-to-day demands of NPD to reduce time-to-market while still retaining your ingenuity. And implementing solutions that allow you do all of the above—and then some.
How many formulas do you need?
The answer is: as many as it takes. There’ s no magic number when it comes to formulation or reformulation. But you need technology that can keep up with (and track of) R&D as you iterate.
When your specs aren’t cutting it
Maybe they’re too specific? Or not specific enough? Either way, the last thing you want to do once a new product is approved is back track. But if other teams are having trouble accessing or following its specs, then you might not have a choice.
Building your labels after the fact
Of course you want to have your formula(s) figured out before you worry about the label. But this approach could have the unwanted side effect of slowing your time-to-market.
“Biggest challenge right now is speed to market. Reducing our lead time is by far our biggest challenge. I would say then followed by competitiveness of the market.”
John Hasse, Vice President of Procurement, OWS Foods Inc.
Regardless of obstacles, brands are doubling down on product development
If there’s one thing food and beverage brands can agree on right now, it’s NPD. At least from an investment standpoint. In The 2024 NPD Report we revealed that 76% of respondents planned to invest more in product development. And this statistic marks a 12% increase from the previous year.
How they intend to allocate that investment varies, with terms like healthy, AI, and technology, splitting the results. Regardless, R&D teams are being asked to do even more in terms of both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability. And the industry’s renewed commitment to innovation confirms NPD’s crucial role in the success (or failure) of both new and established brands.
Improve your NPD success rate with the right resources
Formulation for the future
Fully digitizing your formulas gives you the means to securely store recipes, modify product offerings, and share your successes with the rest of the team. It’s basically real-time product development with the power to instantly make projections.
Specification translation on deck
Without a common language for specs, even the best NPD initiatives will struggle. Ensure your hand off goes as smoothly as possible with a templated approach that teaches the team what to expect.
One-click nutrition information
Instead of waiting days, weeks, or months for laboratory analysis, you can get results instantly with our state-of-the-art nutrition calculation solution. Labeling is only another click away.
A tip-to-tail ecosystem for research and development
One that allows you to focus on what you love most about NPD: the creativity that brings products to life from conception to widespread consumption.
Again, not to oversimplify matters, but it’s about harnessing the supply chain data at your disposal and integrating it with a system like TraceGains. Move faster with today’s leading food technology that helps you to race to market with competitive offerings—all while automating the processes that tend to slow you down.
Rather than forcing your legacy systems to try to keep up with today’s pace, why not make the switch to something that will benefit your team in the present and the future?
Outpace your competitors and get ahead of the next big trend with next-level digitization. Only available in the industry’s first networked NPD suite.
Keep Exploring
2024 NPD Report: R&D Outlook for the Food and Beverage Industry
4 Mistakes to Avoid and 7 Ways Forward in New Product Development
