Commentary

Top Product Launches Show Innovation

During unprecedented times, consumer packaged goods makers responded with innovation, according to IRI. The researcher tracked new product launches over the past year and identified some winners that showed impressive sales.

The top 10 Food & Beverage product launches were:

 

  1. Dr Pepper & Cream Soda
  2. Aha Sparkling Water
  3. Corona Hard Seltzer
  4. High Noon Sun Sips
  5. Oatly
  6. Truly Iced Tea
  7. Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer
  8. Impossible Burger
  9. Life Cuisine
  10. Minute Maid Zero Sugar

The top 10 nonfood products were:

  1. Microban 24
  2. Voltaren
  3. Swan
  4. Hello Bello
  5. Goli Nutrition
  6. Dawn Ultra Platinum Powerwash
  7. Tide Hygenic Clean
  8. Suave Hand Sanitizer
  9. Febreze Light
  10. Wipe Out

Among the winning categories was seltzer -- both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic kind -- and hand sanitizers.

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“What we noticed overall with new product pacesetters was that after we learn to live with a pandemic, we saw tremendous packed goods sales spike throughout 2020. And in 2020, fun, we're still ahead of where we were pre-pandemic, and we continue to experiences more of our food dollars still spent at home,” said Joan Driggs, vice president. of content and thought leadership for IRI.

Driggs said that alcohol beverages saw a big increase. Whether that’s because people are drinking at home rather than bars or just drinking more in general is hard to say. “What we found really exceptional is things like beverage, alcohol, really remained high, both in terms of overall sales and in terms of new product development throughout the pandemic,” noted IRI spokesperson Shelley Hughes.

In non-food, Hughes pointed out that BinaxNOW, the home-testing kit for Covid, was one of the top sellers, as was Microban 24, a multipurpose cleaner. Among the other products that rose to the top were some made with hemp oil and a plant-based diaper.

Then there’s 19 Crimes wine. “One of my favorites is the 19 Crimes Cali Red, which was created in partnership with Snoop Dogg. And what surprised me about that was the new consumers who started buying the brand -- about 400,000  consumers, mostly young and diverse, frankly a target that the wine industry has had a hard time getting,” Hughes said.

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