Successful new products remain the holy grail for both suppliers and retailers. Manufacturers may soon be taking cues from abroad more than ever before says Simon Mowbray
There’s a lot of truth in the age-old adage there’s no such thing as a new idea. Look at many of the top product ideas from the last couple of years or so, and you realise that far from being new, they have, in fact, been around for years in some shape or form.
Take, for instance, Nestlé’s self-heating cans of Nescafé, an apparently revolutionary idea to many consumers and a product which generated dozens of column inches in the consumer press.
British shoppers marvelled at the cans with the quicklime and water reaction which could heat the caffeine contents in a matter of minutes.
However, far from being a new concept, the technology to heat foods and drinks remotely had been available since the First World War when it was tested by troops on foreign missions.
Similar products had also already been on sale in various parts of Europe for several years before Nestlé’s Hot When You Want version, which is now defunct, became readily available.
Even the technology for Wrigley’s award-winning Extra Thin Ice fresh breath strips, it transpires, is far from a new phenomenon, but it was to consumers who were blissfully oblivious of the fact.
As a result, they have helped make the newcomer one of the most successful new launches of last year as Wrigley notched up sales of around £14m.
Which is exactly why a trawl of the world’s grocery markets once again looks like a good bet for manufacturers seeking inspiration for new products to launch into an ever-competitive market. Analyst Mintel usually records around 100,000 new products from 48 countries each year as its network of eagle-eyed shoppers feeds information back to the research body’s various international bureaux.
Yet the company has noticed an explosion in the number of new products in the last 12 months with certain categories particularly experiencing a remarkable upturn. Around 32% more snacking products were detected in 2003 compared with 2002, while new cereals were up by 46%.
David Jago, editorial director of Mintel’s Global New Products, says: “What’s most interesting is that in some categories, such as cereals, the increase has come from the less developed markets. However, in the Western economies, the number of launches has gone down.”
In other words, while the ideas machine may inevitably be slowing down in certain parts of the world, there is plenty of inspiration to be gleaned from looking elsewhere. So what’s in store?
Packaging will continue to be one of the dominant forces, claims Jago, with Mintel’s shoppers having spotted a number of firsts.
Among the more interesting are pre-measured multipacks of single-serve spaghetti from Panzani in France, boil-in-the-bag kids pasta from Soubry in Belgium, and a marinade-in-a-bag EZMarinader product from Heinz in the US.
“It is the packaging that makes all of these examples interesting and such products could make waves here,” says Jago.
Meanwhile, a flood of better-for-you products could also be winging their way to the UK in some shape or form as the nation’s health debate continues to rage.
In Austria, Nestlé has dipped its toe further into the bottled water market with Wellness Water, a new H2O offering which contains herb essences and ginseng. Benecol developer Raisio has also expanded its offering with a cholesterol-reducing pasta proposition in Finland, while Danone is trying out a soya yogurt in Spain under its best-selling Bio label.
It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to realise the potential that such products could enjoy on British shores.
Better-for-you confectionery is also an emerging trend with Masterfoods having launched a cholesterol-lowering range of Crunch Bars and Chocolate Chews under the Cocoa Via brand in the US.
Also potentially on the agenda, according to Jago, are a burgeoning range of products known as ‘cosmeceuticals’, such as vitamins under the Procter & Gamble-owned Olay label which are already on sale on the other side of the Atlantic. “A lot of these products may not make it in the long run,” adds Jago, “but at least it shows that there is still plenty of product innovation around.”
n David Jago was speaking at this year’s International New Products Forum in Leatherhead, which featured all the products outlined in this feature. For more details visit www.leatherheadfood.com.
There’s a lot of truth in the age-old adage there’s no such thing as a new idea. Look at many of the top product ideas from the last couple of years or so, and you realise that far from being new, they have, in fact, been around for years in some shape or form.
Take, for instance, Nestlé’s self-heating cans of Nescafé, an apparently revolutionary idea to many consumers and a product which generated dozens of column inches in the consumer press.
British shoppers marvelled at the cans with the quicklime and water reaction which could heat the caffeine contents in a matter of minutes.
However, far from being a new concept, the technology to heat foods and drinks remotely had been available since the First World War when it was tested by troops on foreign missions.
Similar products had also already been on sale in various parts of Europe for several years before Nestlé’s Hot When You Want version, which is now defunct, became readily available.
Even the technology for Wrigley’s award-winning Extra Thin Ice fresh breath strips, it transpires, is far from a new phenomenon, but it was to consumers who were blissfully oblivious of the fact.
As a result, they have helped make the newcomer one of the most successful new launches of last year as Wrigley notched up sales of around £14m.
Which is exactly why a trawl of the world’s grocery markets once again looks like a good bet for manufacturers seeking inspiration for new products to launch into an ever-competitive market. Analyst Mintel usually records around 100,000 new products from 48 countries each year as its network of eagle-eyed shoppers feeds information back to the research body’s various international bureaux.
Yet the company has noticed an explosion in the number of new products in the last 12 months with certain categories particularly experiencing a remarkable upturn. Around 32% more snacking products were detected in 2003 compared with 2002, while new cereals were up by 46%.
David Jago, editorial director of Mintel’s Global New Products, says: “What’s most interesting is that in some categories, such as cereals, the increase has come from the less developed markets. However, in the Western economies, the number of launches has gone down.”
In other words, while the ideas machine may inevitably be slowing down in certain parts of the world, there is plenty of inspiration to be gleaned from looking elsewhere. So what’s in store?
Packaging will continue to be one of the dominant forces, claims Jago, with Mintel’s shoppers having spotted a number of firsts.
Among the more interesting are pre-measured multipacks of single-serve spaghetti from Panzani in France, boil-in-the-bag kids pasta from Soubry in Belgium, and a marinade-in-a-bag EZMarinader product from Heinz in the US.
“It is the packaging that makes all of these examples interesting and such products could make waves here,” says Jago.
Meanwhile, a flood of better-for-you products could also be winging their way to the UK in some shape or form as the nation’s health debate continues to rage.
In Austria, Nestlé has dipped its toe further into the bottled water market with Wellness Water, a new H2O offering which contains herb essences and ginseng. Benecol developer Raisio has also expanded its offering with a cholesterol-reducing pasta proposition in Finland, while Danone is trying out a soya yogurt in Spain under its best-selling Bio label.
It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to realise the potential that such products could enjoy on British shores.
Better-for-you confectionery is also an emerging trend with Masterfoods having launched a cholesterol-lowering range of Crunch Bars and Chocolate Chews under the Cocoa Via brand in the US.
Also potentially on the agenda, according to Jago, are a burgeoning range of products known as ‘cosmeceuticals’, such as vitamins under the Procter & Gamble-owned Olay label which are already on sale on the other side of the Atlantic. “A lot of these products may not make it in the long run,” adds Jago, “but at least it shows that there is still plenty of product innovation around.”
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