FOOD TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENT

Food Trends and Development

Food Trends and Development

Introduction

New food product development is a risky undertaking with as many as 75% of new food products reckoned to fail (Buisson, 1995). It is estimated that up to 46% of resources devoted to new product development are wasted on unsuccessful projects ( Cooper, 2003, chaps. 2-4; Deschamps & Nayak, 2006). Modelling of the food product development process has therefore become imperative for improved innovative success. Although models for new product outcomes have been developed ( Burchill and Fine, 1997; Calantone and Cooper, 2005 and Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 2006), such models do not appear to have taken into account the likely barriers or problems that can impinge upon the product development process and apart from one study carried out in Denmark ( Kristensen, Ostergaard, & Juhl, 2008), models of product development have not specifically considered food.

Cooper and colleagues have concluded from three decades of research into industrial product development practices that controllable or process factors are more important than situational or environmental factors in predicting new product outcome. Earlier research which considered 252 new product case histories ( Cooper & Kleinschmidt, 2002) indicated that product success is contingent upon having a unique product idea, having undertaken extensive pre-development research, having good knowledge of the market, a cross-functional team approach involving top management and effective marketing and launch. Subsequent research has implied that it is not enough to have a formal new product development process in place, the process must be rigorous but flexible and implemented by a highly skilled team ( Cooper & Kleinschmidt, 2006).

The food industry has responded to dietary health promotion directives advocating that consumers should reduce dietary fat consumption by developing new reduced fat food products.1 Unfortunately, consumers have been slow to take up these products so that they are not always successful in the market place. Food products claiming to be reduced in certain nutrients such as fat appear to be most difficult to innovate. Resource requirements tend to be high both in terms of time and money and the technical process is complex requiring a wide range of expertise. Technical difficulties encountered in the development of these products together with poor consumer uptake has led product developers to perceive the development of reduced fat foods as a particularly risky undertaking. Consequently, a working model of best practice specifically for reduced fat product development has been researched and constructed to help guide reduced fat product development practice.

The present study has applied Cooper and Kleinschmidt's paradigm to food product development. Information derived from food product case histories has been related to product outcome to determine those factors most associated with product success. In keeping with Cooper and colleague's model, the interview topic list and case history database included items relating to all aspects of the product development process, team structure and expertise, available budget, pre development activities such as ideation, market and consumer research and product launch (Appendix). This study is different in that respondents were also encouraged ...