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The Seven Deadly Sins of Product Development

March 1, 2003 Deborah Silver Comments

Posted in Articles, Science & Research, Topics

The downside is grim. Only one new product idea in 58 actually makes it through the development process and yields a successful new product, according to a study by Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, VA. But the potential upside for that one winning product is enormous. Some companies realize a whopping 50% of their sales and 40% of their profits from products that are less than five years old.

“New-product development is a lot like raising kids,” says Jim Doak, CEC, director of menu development and innovation, Applebee’s International, Inc., Overland Park, KS. “Nothing works for sure, but some things work a lot better than others.”

In an effort to uncover what works, companies invest significant dollars to improve new-product processes. Some use complex mapping systems with hundreds of steps, while others opt for simpler product-development routes. But no matter the process, avoiding certain pitfalls along the way can mean the difference between product success and product failure.

In the beginning
Thou shalt not proceed without management commitment. While many development teams start the new-product process with the search for the right idea, senior management’s commitment to the product requires an honest assessment before taking that first step. If management’s motivation is strictly to increase short-term profits, other, lower-risk, courses of action are likely a better route than the costly development and launch of a new product. However, if the impetus stems from a strategic assessment that a new product is necessary to meet key business objectives, then the driving force needed to support the new-product process, including talent, organizational structure, time and money, will be greater.

“When the main motivation is to please Wall Street with a blockbuster product, a company often takes shortcuts in best practices and pushes the product out the door too quickly,” says Colleen Zammer, senior manager with TIAX LLC, a consulting firm in Cambridge, MA. “It’s important to create a product that takes into account the needs of all the stakeholders, from consumers to management, and to make the appropriate tradeoffs.”

Indeed, new-product development is a team effort. “The whole team must be focused on the forward progress of the whole project,” Zammer says. However, she adds that lack of proper support from top management is at the root of many new-product failures. Without it, the creative environment necessary to create breakthrough products is often missing. And if senior managers are not involved throughout the process, critical issues may be overlooked. “New-product development requires the ability to synthesize detailed consumer and product information, food-science technology and financial data,” she continues. “You need seasoned managers to handle that level of complexity.”

Thou shalt not ignore the formulator’s dilemma. Today’s consumer wants to taste the nuances of specific cooking methods, such as stir-frying, sautéing, roasting and grilling, but replicating those cooking techniques in retail food production is no easy task. If the goal of a new product is to create the flavor associated with a specific technique, the designer first must understand the chemistry associated with the creation of that flavor.

“You need to use ingredient technology — not processing technology, to deliver the authentic flavor profiles of cooking methods, such as grilling and sautéing,” says Lucien Vendôme, senior executive chef for Kraft Food Ingredients Corp., Memphis, TN. “But in order for those flavor systems to provide value, they must also be formulated to survive manufacturing processes and, ultimately, deliver the desired flavor profile to the consumer.”

Developers should also take into account consumer expectation for specific food textures. For example, when formulating a creamy gravy with a full flavor profile, food scientists must choose a thickener that performs during processing and storage conditions so that the finished food looks and feels as good as it does in a restaurant. For thinner sauces with enhanced mouthfeel, traditional culinary techniques — such as reduction — build just enough viscosity without too much thickening, but sauce reduction is not always an option in a manufacturing facility. As a result, specialty ingredients that offer texture without viscosity must be used. “Typically, retail products have to endure more abuse than foodservice-restaurant products, and the desired attributes can be hard to deliver,” says Vendôme. “It’s a difficult and delicate balancing act that involves trial and error, time and testing.”

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