Baking & Snack - September 2024 - 8

editorial
Reformulation takes center stage
N
New products are back but not without some hurdles to
clear. In this issue of Baking & Snack, you'll find the latest
study in our State of the Baking Industry series: Product
Innovation & Development. We initially conducted this
survey with Cypress Research in 2022 to measure how the
pandemic impacted product development and how it was
recovering. Back then, recovery was slow, and most R&D
teams were focused on reformulating existing products in
light of the supply chain and cost challenges that followed
the pandemic.
This year, however, we have a much more optimistic
outlook. As you'll see in my report, " Bouncing Back, " the
two categories of new product development that take the
most resources - Innovation, new products in existing
brands, and Invention, breakthrough product development
- are approaching their pre-pandemic
levels, signaling a significant recovery in these
efforts. Renovation, or reformulating existing
products, however, remains strong, with 73%
of baker respondents saying it is important
to their R&D initiatives in the next 12 to 18
months. Compare that to only 58% who said
Renovation was important pre-pandemic.
Some pressures that were high in 2022 have
eased: increased focus on operations, reduced
internal R&D resources and access to ingredients,
for example. This allows more time and energy to
pour into R&D work. However, these haven't completely
evaporated, and their effects linger. More baking companies
are reporting an R&D budget and staff that have
remained the same. While ingredient costs have come
down from their post-pandemic highs, they still haven't
returned to pre-pandemic lows. And the labor crunch
is putting a significant strain on every aspect of bakery
manufacturing, and R&D is not exempt.
I believe these lingering pressures are what have kept
Renovation on the radar of R&D teams as they continue
to find ways to cut costs. These Renovation projects can
be implemented faster than developing something entirely
new, as Penny Patterson-Smith, chief innovation officer,
Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga., explained in our webinar,
" State of the Baking Industry: Product Innovation
& Development, " which is available on-demand at
www.bakingbusiness.com. And by pivoting to other ingredients
that are more readily and consistently available or
less expensive, bakers can lower stress and save money.
Renovation's growing place in product development
strategies also speaks to the dominant force of the clean
label trend. An incredible 79% of study respondents said
clean label was influencing product development for the
next 12 to 18 months, a full 26 points ahead of the second
biggest trend reported, convenience. As consumers
continue to priortize their health and transparency, reformulating
away from ingredients they deem unacceptable
will remain a top priority for product developers for the
foreseeable future.
- Charlotte Atchley, Editor
catchley@sosland.com
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Baking & Snack - September 2024

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