Buyers love getting their hands on a new product and despite the many thousands of SKUs out there, there's always room on shelf for genuinely innovative products.
Yet the time and expense needed for R&D means that buyers are often likely to get shown new packaging or a slightly tweaked ingredient list than any true blue-sky innovation.
Buyers acknowledge some categories are difficult to innovate, such as paperware and rice and pasta, but many are bemoaning the lack of true NPD in areas where they would normally expect it.
“Yoghurts was more like OPR - old product re-developed - than NPD last year,” says one fed-up dairy buyer.
There's also the issue of price deflation to contend with. “I'd like to see an improvement in NPD but it's a vicious circle,” says one buyer.
“While the market is being driven down the low price route by the major multiples, what chance have the manufacturers got of trying to add value into product development and improve margins with NPD?”
It seems the government is also impacting on the food industry's ability to innovate. Buyers cite strict labelling regulations, advertising rules, import tariffs and health concerns as factors which are starting to bite.
The industry already faces a ban on advertising certain HFSS food and drink products to children and has endured a time-consuming and costly food reformulation programme to cut salt content and saturated fat out of their products.
“Although the government wants the industry to take out E-numbers, it's not always financially viable to replace them with natural ingredients which can push the price up and then consumers might not want to buy them,” says one buyer.
“I'd like to see fewer overnight knee-jerk reactions to health warnings, and more realistic views on things such as hydrogenated vegetable oil,” adds another.
The Grocer's Top Products Survey showed that despite being blamed regularly for the nation's obesity, manufacturers have heeded demands for healthier products by reformulating mainstream lines and innovating in functional foods.
But there's still more to do: “Some big brands in the marketplace have been very slow off the mark with regard to healthy eating and haven't rebranded to flag up dark chocolate as beneficial, for example,” says a confectionery buyer.
However, a health-driven push to reformulate processed food could force manufacturers to spend time and money refining ingredients at the expense of genuine NPD.
It is coping with rules on labelling that is proving to be the biggest thorn in the side of many buyers.
The battle between the FSA's traffic-light labelling scheme and the FDF's front-of-pack GDAs continues to rumble on - with some companies adopting both schemes while others are ignoring them completely.
According to our survey, 42% of buyers cited labelling as the current biggest barrier to NPD. Many buyers wish the whole industry would take one common stance on labelling.
“Government should take a clear view as to which system/standard they want everyone to adopt and then support it with an educational drive,” complains one grocery buyer.
Another is critical of the amount of information which needs to be squeezed onto packs. “Labelling is becoming more challenging because there's so much more information that new products have to fit on, which means you can lose the impact of what the product is trying to do.”
Most agree that the industry probably hasn't seen the end of these constraints they see future legislation as the issue that is likely to be the greatest barrier to NPD.
The European Commission, for instance, is currently deciding whether labelling food with details of nutritional content should be compulsory and whether to charge for applications for approval of new ingredients and health claims.
This could mean more red-tape for suppliers and the NFU has warned of 'regulatory overkill' while the Forum of Private Business warns that the proposals will stifle innovation.
“More government legislation could mean buyers would be forced to source from further afield or it might affect the price,” says one buyer.
Another buyer adds: “More legislation in the future could mean NPD is slower to market, and we may miss trends. Then buyers would be spending time doing the role of a food technician.”
So what ultimate impact could future government legislation have on NPD throughout this year?
“Bored, uninspired customers, fewer sales and consumers buying the same products,” says one buyer bluntly. We have been warned.
The questions we asked:
Were you disappointed by NPD in your category in 2006?
Yes 57%
No 43%
Do you expect to see an improvement in NPD in your category in 2007?
Yes 57%
No 15%
Don't know 28%
What is the greatest legislative barrier to NPD right now?
Reformulation 15%
Labelling 42%
Other (please specify) 43%
Will government legislation be the greatest barrier to NPD in the future?
Yes 70%
No 15%
Don't know 15%
Yet the time and expense needed for R&D means that buyers are often likely to get shown new packaging or a slightly tweaked ingredient list than any true blue-sky innovation.
Buyers acknowledge some categories are difficult to innovate, such as paperware and rice and pasta, but many are bemoaning the lack of true NPD in areas where they would normally expect it.
“Yoghurts was more like OPR - old product re-developed - than NPD last year,” says one fed-up dairy buyer.
There's also the issue of price deflation to contend with. “I'd like to see an improvement in NPD but it's a vicious circle,” says one buyer.
“While the market is being driven down the low price route by the major multiples, what chance have the manufacturers got of trying to add value into product development and improve margins with NPD?”
It seems the government is also impacting on the food industry's ability to innovate. Buyers cite strict labelling regulations, advertising rules, import tariffs and health concerns as factors which are starting to bite.
The industry already faces a ban on advertising certain HFSS food and drink products to children and has endured a time-consuming and costly food reformulation programme to cut salt content and saturated fat out of their products.
“Although the government wants the industry to take out E-numbers, it's not always financially viable to replace them with natural ingredients which can push the price up and then consumers might not want to buy them,” says one buyer.
“I'd like to see fewer overnight knee-jerk reactions to health warnings, and more realistic views on things such as hydrogenated vegetable oil,” adds another.
The Grocer's Top Products Survey showed that despite being blamed regularly for the nation's obesity, manufacturers have heeded demands for healthier products by reformulating mainstream lines and innovating in functional foods.
But there's still more to do: “Some big brands in the marketplace have been very slow off the mark with regard to healthy eating and haven't rebranded to flag up dark chocolate as beneficial, for example,” says a confectionery buyer.
However, a health-driven push to reformulate processed food could force manufacturers to spend time and money refining ingredients at the expense of genuine NPD.
It is coping with rules on labelling that is proving to be the biggest thorn in the side of many buyers.
The battle between the FSA's traffic-light labelling scheme and the FDF's front-of-pack GDAs continues to rumble on - with some companies adopting both schemes while others are ignoring them completely.
According to our survey, 42% of buyers cited labelling as the current biggest barrier to NPD. Many buyers wish the whole industry would take one common stance on labelling.
“Government should take a clear view as to which system/standard they want everyone to adopt and then support it with an educational drive,” complains one grocery buyer.
Another is critical of the amount of information which needs to be squeezed onto packs. “Labelling is becoming more challenging because there's so much more information that new products have to fit on, which means you can lose the impact of what the product is trying to do.”
Most agree that the industry probably hasn't seen the end of these constraints they see future legislation as the issue that is likely to be the greatest barrier to NPD.
The European Commission, for instance, is currently deciding whether labelling food with details of nutritional content should be compulsory and whether to charge for applications for approval of new ingredients and health claims.
This could mean more red-tape for suppliers and the NFU has warned of 'regulatory overkill' while the Forum of Private Business warns that the proposals will stifle innovation.
“More government legislation could mean buyers would be forced to source from further afield or it might affect the price,” says one buyer.
Another buyer adds: “More legislation in the future could mean NPD is slower to market, and we may miss trends. Then buyers would be spending time doing the role of a food technician.”
So what ultimate impact could future government legislation have on NPD throughout this year?
“Bored, uninspired customers, fewer sales and consumers buying the same products,” says one buyer bluntly. We have been warned.
The questions we asked:
Were you disappointed by NPD in your category in 2006?
Yes 57%
No 43%
Do you expect to see an improvement in NPD in your category in 2007?
Yes 57%
No 15%
Don't know 28%
What is the greatest legislative barrier to NPD right now?
Reformulation 15%
Labelling 42%
Other (please specify) 43%
Will government legislation be the greatest barrier to NPD in the future?
Yes 70%
No 15%
Don't know 15%
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