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| Saturday, 3 February 2007 |
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Record breaking product roll-outs in 2006
By FoodWeek Online @ 5:00 PM
0 Comments  International-Trends
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The last 12 months has seen the launch of a record-breaking number of new FMCG products with a significant shift to more products with a “better for you” positioning.
According to Mintel’s Global New Products database, almost 105,000 food and drink products were launched last year alone – around 300 for every day of the year.
Coupled with more than 77,000 new non-food products, launches overall experienced a 17% increase on 2005 figures. Mintel reports this is more than double the growth rate (8%) in FMCG launches seen between 2004 and 2005.
David Jago, director of Mintel custom solutions, said the strong focus in many categories was on promoting good health which could be seen in the most popular product claims.
The low-carb trend had proved to be a flash in the pan with the category posting as few as 500 global food introductions in 2006, he said. This was less than half the level of launches achieved in
the same category in 2005, and only 15% of the launches introduced during the low-carb peak in 2004.
By contrast, Jago said products that highlighted a reduced content of fat, calories, sugar or cholesterol, were sharply on the rise. Low/no trans-fat products had more than doubled since 2005, up nearly 120%.
Meanwhile, gluten-free products experienced an 86% jump last year, with strong growth in North America, Europe and Latin America.
Food and drink product launches with an ethical positioning nearly doubled last year. Jago said ethical products were defined as those including ingredients linked to Fair Trade or sustainability, expanding to products that made ecological claims or were linked to charitable concerns.
And organic was also continuing to see major developments. In the non-food arena, products that were partly or wholly organic grew by about 30%.
In 2006, superfoods greatly impacted mainstream FMCG product launches. Pomegranate was one of the strongest stars, especially in beverages, but the next big star looks set to be an Amazonian berry called Acai. Acai is one of the products featured in Coca-Cola’s newest Australasian product, the energy drink named Mother.
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