What jobs are not outsourceable in the US will be a question on top of mind as the Presidential election campaigns gather steam.This as globalization and technology moves forward at an ever faster pace. A useful way to think about the challenge for young and mid-career Americans is as follows: Agriculture: Only a tiny 0.7%Continue reading “What jobs are not outsourceable in the US? Going global in Agriculture,Manufacturing and Services”
Category Archives: Food industry
Concept Testing in New Product Innovation : worth the cost
Concept testing in new product innovation is worth the cost. In B2B there are normally fewer customers and concept testing is easier and less expensive. But if you are in B2C with millions of potential customers for your new product, concept testing costs do work out.
[Note: This post was originally published on May 30, 2012. Thanks to reader interest we have done minor updates to the post on March 9, 2021.]
For prices starting at under 100,000 $ from leading concept testing agencies, you can get to know what your potential customers think about your new product concept. For consumer food products, let’s say you get one bit of feedback: some folks are wondering about the high sodium level. You can come up with a low-sodium variant and grab large sections of the older population that’s trying to watch its sodium and salt intake for blood pressure. Think of the millions of new customers that the product would have missed without a timely concept test !
Innovation: Do you have a Product Innovation Charter (PIC)?
Having a “Product Innovation Charter” (PIC) is like having a mission statement for innovation.
Pfizer Nutrition acquired by Nestle: Baby food for emerging markets
Nestle has reached an agreement to acquire the Pfizer Nutrition business for $11.85 Billion. A big focus of the merged enterprise will be serving emerging markets in Asia,Latin America and Africa where baby birth rates are not declining as in the developed world. Dual earner families want the best for their infants and the PfizerContinue reading “Pfizer Nutrition acquired by Nestle: Baby food for emerging markets”
Innovation : top management need to get involved in the first three stages
It’s sort of amazing when top management in a variety of industries from high tech aerospace to comparatively low tech outer packaging seem to be disengaged and “hands off” in the first three stages of of innovation (see previous post on the 5 stages). Top leaders start taking interest when the product is in serious development(Stage 4) and many top managers become alert and awake as the product is getting launched(Stage 5). At this time things are too far ahead to change except at high cost. These include airfreight when sea freight might have worked on the supply chain side, customer apathy in the market because concept testing was not done well and there was no time to do product and market testing because top management was so un-involved that the budgets were not approved when the New Product team had put them up.
Happy Easter Egg Roll and Egg Safety
Today the White House Easter Egg Roll turned out to be a fun event by all accounts and sort of encouraged this blog to revisit a popular post on the egg supply chain on a more happier note. For on Easter Monday it is nice to think of new beginnings, of Spring and the questionContinue reading “Happy Easter Egg Roll and Egg Safety”
Happy 100th Birthday to Oreo cookies: keeping the soul of a brand
In a rapidly changing world- Oreo cookies give you a sense of stability and comfort and that is the soul of the Oreo brand. The largest selling cookie of the 20th century has survived numerous wars,technology upheavals,financial meltdowns and extreme globalization. If you were used in childhood to "twist,lick and dunk" and are now watchingContinue reading “Happy 100th Birthday to Oreo cookies: keeping the soul of a brand”
Diamond Foods: Pringles fiasco- a farmer co-operative supply chain implodes as corporation
When Diamond Foods announced its plans to acquire Pringles from P&G it seemed like a great move to this blog. So it comes as quite a shock that the deal is off and Kellogg's is acquiring Pringles , trying to expand its snacking line for salted foods in emerging markets as P&G , the PringlesContinue reading “Diamond Foods: Pringles fiasco- a farmer co-operative supply chain implodes as corporation”
WEF Davos : Capitalism and Democracy try to find balance through CSR
This year (2012) there seems to be a marked and discernible change in this gathering’s tone and tenor. Leaders of both Governments and Businesses seem to realize that becoming richer and richer is probably not enough. This realization as capitalism,democracy and affluence rises worldwide , 1 billion more global middle class by 2020 according to Muhtar Kent of Coca Cola ( see accompanying video). Here is some interesting stuff to think about from happenings at Davos in 2012:
Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA”
What is the price of a small (called tall for that upbeat feel) Starbucks regular coffee ? Well, the Pike Place Roast does does come under $1.60 but it doesn't matter as most people order something much grander and spent over $6 on average per visit in 2008. Starbucks re-organized under founder Howard Schultz andContinue reading “Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA””