Product Development 101
Speaker Name
Speaker Title
Date (optional)
© 2007 Institute of Food Technologists
Agenda
• Types of “New” Products
• The Product Development Team
• Product Development Process
• Activity
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Types of “new” products
• Almost 105,000 new food and drink products were launched
globally in 2006 (Rowan 2007)
 That’s around 300 for every day of the year!
 It is estimated that only around 30,000 to 50,000 will succeed (Brody
and Lord 2000)
These are just some of the new products launched in 2006
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Types of “new” products
• There are several general categories
of new products
 Completely new
 Line extensions of current products
 Same product but repositioned
 Improvements of current products
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How does a new product get created?
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The Product Development Team
Technology & Quality
Packaging
Engineering/Process Engineering
Food Defense
Food Safety
Research & Development
Sensory Evaluation
Microbiology
Regulatory Compliance
Nutrition
Marketing
Marketing Research
Sales
Manufacturing
Legal Affairs
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Operations
Logistics
Procurement
Supply Chain
Quality Control
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Product Development Process
• In general, there are three phases of product development
 Phase I: Product Definition
 Phase II: Product Implementation
 Phase III: Product Introduction
• Each phase has key milestones which should be reached
for a successful new product introduction
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Start:
Strategic Plan
Phase I:
Product
Definition
PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
MILESTONES
Market Opportunity
Assessment
Product Definition
(New Idea)
Prototype
Development
Phase II:
Product
Implementation
Consumer
Testing
Prototype
Modifications
Scale-up and
Trial Production
Phase III:
Product
Introduction
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Finish:
PRODUCT LAUNCH
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Product Development Process
• All organization functions are
involved throughout the project,
but the level of activity varies for
each function
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Organizational Involvement in the
Product Development Process
(Rudolph 1995)
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Phase I: Product Definition
• Strategic Plan
 Identifies company’s current market position
 Identifies company’s desired/future market position
 The strategic plan will help determine if the new product should be for an
existing brand or an entirely new brand
 For example, a company that is a leader in snack foods through its
strategic plan may decide it wants to be a leader in snack foods AND
beverages – so they will decide they need to develop (or purchase) a
new beverage brand
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Phase I: Product Definition
• Market Opportunity Assessment
 This is used to determine what
products are already in the market
and where there is room for new
products
 For example, in the sample market
on the right there are no
carbonated 100% fruit juices – this
presents an opportunity to a
company that wants to enter the
beverage market
Opportunity Assessment
Of the Beverage Market*
Carbonated
?
100%
Juice
No
Juice
Non- Carbonated
*For demonstration purposes only,
products are not to scale
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Phase I: Product Definition
• Product Definition
 The product definition integrates many objectives to ensure that the
final product is successful and meets the companies strategic plan
 The product definition helps guide the product development team
when choosing ingredients, processing, packaging, etc.
 For example based on trends and demographic information, besides
being a carbonated beverage with fruit juice, the marketing team
might want the product should be:
• Natural
• For Tweens
• Contain exotic flavors
• Shelf-stable
• Etc.
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Phase II: Product
Implementation
Idea: Carbonated fruit drink
Goal: Optimize fruit juice blend
100%
Mango
• Prototype Development
 After the concept has been
narrowed down, a product
development scientist will work
in the lab to develop one or more
prototypes
 The scientist will usually set up
an experimental design to vary
ingredients at defined intervals
to see their effect on overall
liking, flavor, texture, and color
• Team Input
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50%
Mango
50%
Strawberry
50%
Mango
50%
Cranberry
100%
Cranberry
50%
Cranberry
50%
Strawberry
100%
Strawberry
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Phase II: Product
Implementation
Idea: Carbonated fruit drink
Goal: Optimize fruit juice blend
100%
Mango
• Consumer Testing
 Once the product
development scientist has
refined their prototypes they
will work with a sensory
scientist to test them with
consumers
 Statistics is used to
determine the optimal
formula
© 2007 Institute of Food Technologists
50%
Mango
50%
Cranberry
100%
Cranberry
Optimal
50%
Cranberry
50%
Strawberry
50%
Mango
50%
Strawberry
100%
Strawberry
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Phase II: Product Implementation
• Prototype Modifications
 Based on the results of the consumer testing the product development
scientist may need to refine their formula (make it sweeter or less
sweet, change the flavor, etc.)
 Depending on the size of the change, the product may need to be
consumer tested again
 When choosing the final formulation other considerations will be taken
into account such as cost and feasability
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Phase II: Product Implementation
• Scale-up and Trial
 Once a final formula has been chosen, the product development
scientist will need to go to the plant and “scale-up” the formula
 This means they will take the formula from the bench-top (small batch
process that makes a few servings) to the plant (large batch process
that makes thousands of servings)
 The product development scientist will be sure it runs properly on the
equipment and that the processing parameters are correct (e.g. was
the mixing time sufficient to properly mix all of the ingredients?)
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Phase II: Product Implementation
• Before being able to commercialize (send to market) the
idea, several other activities need to occur:
 The package needs to be developed
 The nutrition information needs to be calculated
 The label needs to be created
 The product must meet regulatory approval
 The shelf-life needs to be tested
 Marketing needs to approve the product
 Supply chain needs to be notified to order the ingredients
 The new formula needs to be added to the schedule at the plant…
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Phase III: Product Introduction
• Now the product is ready to be launched!
• The product development scientist will need to oversee the
first production run to be sure everything goes as planned
• Product support will need to be in place to receive feedback
from the plant about how the product is running and from
consumers to know if they are satisfied
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Careers in Product Development
• Job Titles:
 Product Development Scientist
 Scientist
• Employers:
 Food processors
 Ingredient
• Responsibilities:
 Bench-top development
 Testing
 Plant scale-up
 Commercialization
 Troubleshooting
manufacturers/suppliers
 Academia (Higher Education)
 Contract research
laboratories/development firms
 Self-employed/Consultant
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Want to learn more?
• Visit:
 http://www.ift.org
 http://school.discovery.com/foodscience/
• Find a Food Scientist:
 A database of IFT members who are willing to
provide more information about the field of food
science to you
 http://members.ift.org/IFT/Education/TeacherResources/findafoodscientist.htm
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Questions?
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Activity
• Your task is to create a new product that meets one of the Top 10 food
trends of 2007. They are:
 Eating in (prepared meals, meal
 Locally grown/organic/fair trade
kits)
 Premium, gourmet, and exotic
food
 Single-serve pre-made meals
 Food with texture, crispness,
and crunch
 Food for kids
 Low-calorie, lactose-free, glutenfree and/or low-fat
produce
 Functional foods (with added
health benefits, e.g. with omega3-fatty acids etc.)
 Beverages
 Snacks
Sloan AE. 2007. Top 10 Food Trends. Food Technology. 61(4): 23-35.
© 2007 Institute of Food Technologists
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Activity
• Create a poster with the following information:
• Product name
• Product picture
• Target market
• Description of the product including:
- Package type (e.g. can, glass bottle, pouch in box) and
- Serving size (e.g. single or multi-serve)
• Ingredients
• Shelf-life
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Team Name:
Scoresheet
© 2007 Institute of Food Technologists
Judging Criteria
Product Name:
Is it descriptive?
Is it new?
Points
Points Comments
Possible Earned
10
Product Picture:
Is it descriptive?
Is it new?
10
Target Market:
Is the target market well defined?
e.g. Did the team give an age range?
Gender?
20
Product Description:
Is it appealing?
Is it new?
Does it include the package type and
serving size?
Do the package type and serving size
match the target group?
20
Ingredients:
Does the ingredient list match the
product description?
20
Shelf-Life:
Is the shelf-life realistic?
10
Questions:
Did they answer the questions
completely?
Total Score
10
100
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References
• Brody AL and Lord JB. Developing New Food Products for
a Changing Marketplace. Lancaster: Technomic Publishing
Co., Inc, 2000.
• Rowan C. 2007. Record-Breaking Number of New Products
Flood Global CPG Shelves. Mintel International Group Ltd.
[Accessed on June 11, 2007 Published on January 23,
2007] http://www.mintel.com/press_release.php?id=254053
• Rudolph J. 1995. The Food Product Development Process.
British Food Journal. 97(3): 3-11.
© 2007 Institute of Food Technologists
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