New food product development

Food companies large and small introduce thousands and thousands of new food products each year. The time spent developing new food products ranges from 6 months to 5 years. The development of new food products is a wonderfully complex endeavor that utilizes the skills, patience, assets and commitment of an entire company.

Larger companies rely on a product development team that includes food scientists, food engineers, regulatory specialists, marketing experts, and purchasing gurus, while smaller companies may not even have a researcher and development department.

Some in the organization view the development of a new product as ‘art’ where the brilliant idea is conjured in the brain of the inventor and brought to fruition by force of personality and perseverance.

It was suggested that there are four stages:
*Product strategy development
*Product design and process development
*Product commercialization
*Product launching and evaluation

Product design and process development stage is important because a unique product is a key element in product development success. A new product is one that not has been presented before in any market-place anywhere. This is a rare occurrence.

A food product may be new to a company that has not sold it before but is not necessary new to a marketplace: other companies elsewhere might have sold it or product conceptuality similar to it before.
New food product development

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New Product Development

Companies do not have to compete on price and delivery alone. New product development can be used as a competitive weapon in the market place. It is essential for continued growth of a company.

New product development is a means for a company to gain advantage, secure a position or win a new customer.

The term new product development is all embracing and ranges from products that are totally new to the world to minor modifications. It is a multidisciplinary knowledge intensive process, which necessitates the generations, dissemination and management of knowledge across all functions involved in the development of new food and beverages.

Food product development processes vary according to the level of product innovation, the company’s knowledge and resources, the time constrains and the level of risk taking in the company:

Stage 1: Genesis and evaluation
Stage 2: Product design and process development
Stage 3: Introduction stage and product commercialization
Stage 4: Product launch and evaluation

What are the characteristics of a New Product?
*It has never before been manufactured by the company
*It has never been distributed by the company
*Old and current product is introduced into a geographically new area by the company
* Old and current product introduced in either a new package or new size or a new form
* Old and current product introduced into a new market niche
New Product Development 

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