DSL - The Role of Science in the Development of New Food Microlesson

The Role of Science in the Development of New Food

Quick Glance: What's Next?

What will be the next big food product?  

That is what many food scientists and developers ask themselves. Food Science is involved in nearly everything we eat. It begins in the early stages when manufacturers have to decide what product is being produced. Next, they need to discover who this product is for and really target that population. After these important two initial stages, packaging and storage are the next stage. There is a good bit of quality testing at this point to make sure they can produce a good product. Lastly, after a great packaging and final product has successfully made it, a plan of marketing and distribution takes place. Who would have known there were this many steps involved? For many companies, this process can take years. Let’s take a closer look at this process so we can better understand how the food we eat is produced.

Explore: Let's Go Grocery Shopping!

What have you seen new on the shelf in the supermarket lately? What new commercial have you noticed on the television or the internet? This is the result of a lengthy product development strategy. Teams of nutritionists, food scientists, sensory analysts, chemists, and marketing personnel all work together to bring the best new products to the shelves. There are many different scenarios that make up the perfect product. Overall, more and more new products are coming to the shelves.

 

Hits and Misses

The market was hit hard in 2008 with the recession, but it is bouncing back as consumers demand new and interesting items to consume! In fact, food scientists working in the industry and university laboratories develop more than 100,000 new products each year. Of these new products, only about 10,000 actually make it onto store shelves or restaurant menus. What’s more, about 9,000 of those products that actually make it into the market end up failing. In the end, only one out of every 100 new food products are successfully marketed.

Here are a few hits and misses from years past courtesy of Phil Lempert, The Supermarket Guru-

New and Improved Products

Check out the graph showing product production.  

There are several categories of new products- completely new, extension of the current line, improvements on the current product, or re-position of a current product. Often, a company will not start from scratch. They will expand on a current successful product. Many times, they will come out with seasonal flavors or limited editions. Also, many companies are becoming more health-conscious and are removing gluten and reducing sugar. This will call for a new recipe, packaging, and marketing strategy. As you can see in the graph, for about a decade, we had declined in new products production. This could have been because of the financial downturn in 2007 but the trend is picking back up in the last few years. Hopefully, we will see even more new and innovative food items in the future!

The 5 D's of Development

When looking at product development, a team must consider many different elements.

Take a look at the chart below with the 5 D’s of development. Click on each of the 5 d's to learn more.

Take a look at the Development milestones. All of these steps must be met successfully to bring a product to market.

Click on each step to learn more.

  

Challenge

So what do you know about the role of Science in Development? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

 

Takeaway: What Is Your Takeaway?

As you can see, product development is very important and a multifaceted process. It is amazing what can happen over the course of months and years. It can be an exhausting process from concept to the store shelf. Package design and marketing also play a big role in this. And many well-known companies are trying their luck in a totally different market. Mars brands and Hershey have both released snack bars in the past couple of years hoping to diversify and gain ground with the craze of the snack bar industry.

Guess which is made by Mars and which is made by Hershey?

  

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