Food Product Development – Getting new products right at trial stage.

New products tend to mean increased sales and increased profit and are requirement of a successful business.

They can also be a minefield of issues when it comes to delivery.

This is the first in many posts about the R&D/Food product development process

Trial Stage

the trial stage is one of the most critical as it determines, the cost, quality parameters that you can produce the product to.

What to trial?? the easy answer is everything, and i do mean EVERYTHING!!!

But that has its own cost to it, so i guess i have to revise that to “Trial EVERYTHING that’s NEW!!!”

For the parts of the product that are currently being produced their should be existing data about its performance.

Primarily the new items are the unknown and should be tested.

It is my experience that anything, however small when introduced to a process changes it. That means modifying a recipe sightly  will change how it performs on the line. This change  may have a major impact or not. Until you carry out a trial you don’t know.

So if you ever start hearing yourself or others saying the following beware.

1. Its very similar to that other recipe

2. the thickness on the carton is only 5um less, it shouldn’t effect it

3. we made it in the kitchen and looked ok

4. (after the launch) we really didn’t think about that.

the above can lead to the following.

1. the recipe doesn’t behave the same through the depositors resulting in an increase of scrap by 25%

2.The carton runs through the machine but it isn’t supported enough resulting in the carton crushing when the product is pushed in.

3. My favorite – A chef with a wooden spoon and a pan CANNOT mimic a 1000kg steam injected sauce kettle, with the pumping that follows it.

4. TRIAL ALL NEW ITEMS, if your not currently doing it trial it and make sure everyone sees it, otherwise this statement is always their.

Food Product development -I will post more on this topic in future posts.

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