Food Product Development Process - Product Development Stages

“Since new product developments are the products of a creative mind, we must, therefore, stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible.”- George Washington Carver

New Product development is a complex process. The product should fill the marketing requirement and should have more customers’ preference compared to similar products. New products are categorized into – new to the world, new product line in the company, extension to existing product line etc. There are lots of inventions in food industries today. Day by day many new food products are coming and trying to get attention.

Food product development process

Food Product Development Process | Discoverfoodtech.com

Reasons For New Food Product Development:

  1. New innovation
  2. Demand from a customer (Change of lifestyle, healthy living)
  3. Loss of current market
  4. Market pressure

There are many steps for developing a new product in any field and introducing it into the market. Let’s go into detailed.

1.Idea generation & screening

An idea that can change anyone’s life, can come from anywhere. New product ideas can come from the market survey. After brainstorming session, staff from any department like sales, marketing, production, the administration can record their ideas. All the ideas should be listed despite its usefulness at a particular time.

There may be many constraints for executing these ideas so screening is necessary. Constraints could be related to finance, marketing, processing, regulations, packaging, and distributions. So, they all need to be taken into consideration.

2.Market Research

Market research gives the idea about consumer preference and acceptance of the product. It involves the primary & secondary market research for collecting the data. Market surveys may use focus groups, test panels. It takes following characters into consideration while doing surveys age, gender, economic status, geographic location etc.

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After a market survey, marketing information system is used for data collection. It involves four basic components: the collection of internal company data, market data for competitor’s products, collected primary & secondary data and strategies for promotions.

Market Research covers following factors:

  1. Target Market Analysis
  2. Geographical Analysis
  3. Price Analysis
  4. Competitive Analysis
  5. SWOT Analysis
  6. Business regulations

Market Research gives the conclusion whether the product will survive in the market or not. So, the manufacturer or company can take a decision about the continuation or discontinuation of the product. The product can be discontinuing because of many reasons like high development cost, financial problems, inappropriate market, and too many competitors for the same product.

3.Product Specifications

Product specification can be a complicated and lengthy process. It covers the parameters like raw materials, different processing methods, quality control, quality assurance, packaging and storage conditions etc.

It tells about the precise description of the product that manufacturer wants also helps the manufacturers for getting exact information regarding what consumer wants. Outcomes from the above two steps Idea generation & screening, market research will help to get this specific information.

Food product development process

Food Product Development Process Flow Chart | Discoverfoodtech.com

4.Feasibility study (Financial & technical)

The feasibility study is necessary to check the viability of a new product. New product ideas should be technically and financially feasible. Technical feasibility checks for the practicability of the new processing method, appropriateness of equipment, availability of enough manpower, requirement of time and money etc.

5.Process Development

A new product can be totally new and different to the existing line or it may be simple line extension or change of packet. According to it, the process is developing. It involves adding the new product line, change of existing layout, different processing methods, training to employees,

6.Prototype Development & Testing

Prototype development is necessary to get the idea about large-scale processes and helps to get into the market. The large-scale production gives the idea of managing ingredient, process, and production, storage, the packaging on a wider scale.

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Market testing will help to identify any defects in product or design or any other things. It will also help to check the look and value of a product in a defined market. Based on this necessary changes can be done for further development.

7.Launch

Launching new product in the market is a final step after testing all the concepts through various stages. Before launching a product you should have detailed plan for it. It should include details about timing for launching a product and the target customers. Right positioning against competitors plays a significant role in launching. Also, feedback from customers will give you an idea about customer requirement. It is not necessary to work on modification of your products immediately. You can go step by step and attract more customers.

Launching a product is not a last step in the new product development. It’s a continuous process and further development is always important for the success of a product.

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