Food brands must innovate without compromising on consistency, experts say

“Everybody eats,” Angela Anandappa, CEO at Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, said during the “Food and Beverage 101” panel at SupplySide West. “The expectations and the responsibility of a food manufacturer is that we produce safe food, and it is the thing that the consumer wants us to produce. It’s what they’re willing to pay for. They’re not willing to pay for unsafe food.” 

When developing a food and beverage product, the recipe for success almost always starts with safety, and yet it remains one of the biggest hurdles for new brands entering the market.  

Anandappa also identified innovation as the main way the industry thrives. But how do you balance the desire to innovate and create new products with the need to assure the public of those products’ safety?  

One word: consistency. 

Innovate with consistency, for safety’s sake 

Between 2007 and 2016, novel food products led to 36 foodborne outbreaks and more than 1,000 cases of illness, which is why all food producers in the U.S. must apply equal safety measures. Look at the four steps FDA uses to monitors food safety, which require that every manufacturer ensures its products are:  

Related:How collaborative recall plans safeguard every step of the supply chain

Consistency is key, and advanced tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics can help simplify the process. 

Overcoming challenges with new technology 

According to Riana Lynn, CEO at Journey Foods, we have only one food scientist for every 40,000 people on the planet, and this gap is growing. Couple that with incredibly complex food systems, and you’ll see why most new food products fail — up to 85%, according to NielsenIQ data.  

Tools like AI can tackle complex supply chain problems with ease. Combined with robotics, it can even deliver food, scan and spray weeds in crops, and so on. But this tech comes at a price. 

“[These robots] aren’t built to make sure that our farms are more regenerative, or make sure that we are developing and keeping more nutrient density in our ingredients,” Lynn said. “Right now, the intentionality of the software and the design of the robots are not for the greater benefit of the human workforce or of the products being sold. They’re really just for speed and cost savings.” 

Also, these tools must be used responsibly. AI data sets should come from diverse sources to ensure ethical outcomes, and we need to think about underrepresented food production methods and markets, too, especially when developing new products.  

Related:SupplySide West ignites health, wellness industry with 19,000 participants at global showcase

Consistent processes in product development  

Webb Girard, R&D director at culiNEX, returned to the topic of consistency by outlining the four main stages of food product development: 

After you’ve pulled your ideas together, you can start making the product — using an iterative, consistent process. Keep in mind, though, that consistent does not mean boring or inert.  

“It’s all about exploration,” Girard said. “Millennials and Gen Z really want to explore the world from the comfort of their microwave. We thought they wanted non-GMO, gluten free … vegetarian, plant based. No. They just want to explore. So, having that consumer group really enabled us to think outside the box of what’s on the shelf right now, and not have to follow those certifications that are out there.” 

Every step, including innovation, relies on systems, and systems require stability and reliability to function optimally. Consistency can be hard to build into your process as a new brand, especially when considering factors like environmental impact, but it can help to bake three questions into your work. 

Related:Alan Reed reveals how Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network, Bigger Table are reshaping the city’s food landscape

Three questions for brand success 

According to Matt Rink, co-founder and VP of sales at Every Body Eat, you should answer three questions before your brand can earn a chance to become successful: 

Once you know the answers, you’ll be ready to act consistently. That means finding ingredients and suppliers that meet your standards — and getting secondary suppliers too, just in case. When you consider your impact on your category and your existing product portfolio, dependability is critical.  

One last factor, however, trumps even consistency: taste. 

“You can have all the great things about purpose, and all these things about ingredients and everything else, but if you don’t deliver on taste, they’re not coming back,” Rink said. “So, it might be wonderful to have all these superfood ingredients, but have the ones that really matter — that are going to deliver on what you expect and why you fell in love with the product.”