Commentary

Consumers Want New Food Products

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, July 27, 2009

A recent study conducted by Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods, shows that when compared to other sectors, consumer packaged goods (notably, food and beverages, personal products and household products) rate among the lowest in terms of consumer perceptions of innovativeness. And within consumer packaged goods, household and personal products are viewed to be more innovative than food and beverages.

Extremely or Very Innovative CPG Category (% of Global Consumers)
advertisement advertisement *Category*	*% Saying Innovative*
Computer equipment	60%
Electronic media	58
Cameras & video equipment	54
Household products	34
Pharmaceuticals	32
Personal products	28
Food & Beverage	26
Financial institutions	18
Source: Ipsos Marketing, July 2009

However, When specifically asked how willing they would be to try new food, household and personal products, consumers were overwhelmingly interested, as evidenced by top two box scores ranging from 81% to 89%.

Consumers Interested in Trying New (% Global Consumers)
*Product Category*	*% Very or Somewhat Interested*
Foods	89%
Household products	86
Personal products	81
Source: Ipsos Marketing, July 2009

Lauren Demar, CEO of Ipsos Marketing, Global Consumer Goods Sector, says "... (though) consumer packaged goods are viewed to be innovative by less than one-third of global consumers... (with) food and beverages viewed as less innovative than household and personal products... consumers crave new food products the most... " Demar concludes, "A critical step... in product development... is communicating to consumers (availability)... and what differentiates them... "

Findings from a study by Ipsos Marketing, in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the U.S.

For more information, please visit Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods, here.

marketing, research, retail

5 comments about "Consumers Want New Food Products".

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Howie Goldfarb from Blue Star Strategic Marketing, July 27, 2009 at 11:14 a.m.
What consumers witness in the food category is dilution of product vs new products. When there is a new category such as Energy Drinks competition piles in and it is impossible to differentiate the different offerings. But the experience these new categories show proves the underlying study here. See how big energy drinks or bottled water or energy/protein bars have become. But when and established brand adds a new flavor it doesn't always mean more sales as much as the existing flavors will lose some sales due to internal cannablization.
And no offering different packaging such as the 100 calorie snack bags is not viewed as innovation by the public as much as a way to increase packaging waste and the per unit cost to them.
Reply

Mitchell Posada from MitchellPosada, July 27, 2009 at 11:42 a.m.

Agree with Howie and Paula!

Big mfg will do some innovation to create new categories or mostly defend their position in an existing category.

More Innovation will happen via entrepreneurs taking the risks in the hopes they can hit a certain cases per year sales to attract an acquisition from a strategic acquirer.

And they should be handsomely rewarded for the risk...the big firms wont' do it.

I'm looking for Hispanic Entrepreneurs looking for equity financing to pitch at Hispanic-Net's Angel Summit and Venture Forum in September.

Personally I think there will be some success stories in the gluten free and other dietary categories plus some in other 'green' categories.

Dr. prof. henry Carels from lachesis, July 27, 2009 at 5:58 p.m.

I have a patent on a reconstituted nut based product with broad protection.I invented this product for my mother, who along with 160Million people in the USA and Europe , has diverticulosis . What is needed next is capital and distribution .The large food companies have already said they would be buyers when sales reach 15-25 Million at an offer you won't refuse. The process starts with broken nuts and adds value resulting in super premium product.Similar to oreo ice cream which is made from broken oreos. Thanks. Anyone with capital or a snack food company please respond

Thorsten Rhode from marqueteer, July 27, 2009 at 6:44 p.m.

Paula raises a great point -- define 'new' in the context of this study. Are we talking line extensions or new category.

If we define as 'new category': I would argue that the consumer's 'adventurous spirit' will not always translate into actual trial -- simply because they may not know how to classify a new offering and will therefore NOT buy / try / reward. Case-in-point: Nestle had developed Muesli / Power Bars in the late 80s -- a novel concept they tested in research. It was flat out rejected in their studies, so they put it back in the drawer. Then MARS just put s.th. similar out a while later -- and it was successful because the product was directed at the right audience and soon the Innovators were imitated by the broader public.

What am I trying to say? Beware of studies / questionnaires like the one above -- and take research conducted around a completely new product with a grain of salt (or two or three).

People tend to be a lot more adventurous on paper than in reality...

Casey Quinlan from Mighty Casey Media LLC, July 27, 2009 at 9:06 p.m.

This worries me, frankly. We're Cro Magnons with Blackberries - "new" or "innovative" foods would likely be as good for us as all the pasteurized processed food dreck currently on shelves is. IOW, not so good. What was the demo of the sample? Teenagers?