28 Nov 2010 Can corporate giants also be innovators?

How do you measure the success of an innovation? Part of the answer to that question depends on who is doing the measuring. How else, for example, could two companies launch innovative snack products that achieve similar levels of retail sales, yet one company describes its brand as a success and the basis for future growth while the other sees it as a disappointment and decides to withdraw support from its brand.

First published in New Nutrition Business, September 2010 Newsletter, by Julian Mellentin

Flat Earth chips contain a half serving of fruits or veggies per per 28g (6oz) bag. Each 2g serving has less than 5g of fat and about 130 calories. Rice or potato-flake-based chips, which are baked, not fried. PRICING
A premium price that typically is $1.29 (€1.02) for a single-serving 1oz bag. The suggested retail price is $2.99 (€2.38) for a 6oz bag, a small premium over Fritos, PepsiCo’s market-leading potato chip brand.  PROMOTION
Placement and merchandising decisions are especially crucial for Popchips because it doesn’t have national advertising campaigns. Sampling is important and Popchips targets venues ranging from local races to international events such as the Sundance Film Festival. Popchips also uses social media. In regular supermarkets, Popchips takes pains to be included in the natural foods aisle set rather than the conventional salty-snacks aisle. Mainstream distribution in the snacking aisle. SALES
The company is on its way to $40 million (€32 million) in sales this year, after revenues of $19 million (€15 million) in 2009, its second full year in operation. After peaking at $26-$30 million (€21- €24 million) in 2007, its first year on the market, PepsiCo seemed to lose interest and sales cratered to only about $5 million (€4 million) for the 52 weeks ended June 13 2010.

About New Nutrition Business

New Nutrition Business is a London-based research, publishing and consulting company which specialises in researching, analysing and forecasting developments in the business of food, nutrition and health around the world.

The strategies and success factors it  has identified in the 1990s have become the benchmarks for strategy development and brand positioning in the worldwide nutrition business. It works with companies all around the world, from the United States to Australia and from Sweden to South Africa.

New Nutrition Business is headed by executive director Julian Mellentin, one of the world’s very few global specialists in the business of food, nutrition and health.

He is the editor-in-chief of New Nutrition Business and Kids Nutrition Report, the only industry journal in the world on the rapidly developing kids’ nutritional marketplace.

Julian is co-author of both The Functional Foods Revolution: Healthy people, healthy profits?, the first-ever book on the business of functional foods, now translated into Japanese, and Commercialising Innovation: The Food & Health Marketing Handbook.
See www.new-nutrition.com