Director's One Pager: October 2018

Innovation seems almost non existent in own label food these days and most people seem
to confuse innovation with development. Manufacturers need to adopt brand thinking to boost their innovation pipeline before consumer fatigue sets in.

For some time now own label innovation has been stuttering in the supermarket category aisles, probably exacerbated by pricing pressure, competitive retailer reset programmes and of course Brexit uncertainty. The most recent Grocer Own label awards in May this year, despite the brave protestations from the sponsors Cambridge Research, demonstrated this point perfectly.

Out of the 61 or so categories being judged the prizes were again dominated by Aldi and Lidl-some 62% whilst the Top 4 Mults made up a paltry combined 14% between them - this was, in fact, only Asda and Morrisons as there were zero wins from both Tesco and JS.

I have noticed a similar pattern emerging in my role as a judge on a similar but more established food and drinks award panel.

The less posh retailers are hoovering up all the prizes while the posher, middle class retailers lose out.

This could mean that certain retailers don’t enter these awards anymore (there is some evidence of this) or that judges place a higher emphasis on the price point-ie “this is really better quality than I’d expect for the price”.

The problem with this current trend is that it appears to reward EPD (existing product development) rather than innovation. Is Aldi’s Sausage Bake or Lidl’s Med Veg Risotto really innovative? Whilst they both won Grocer innovation awards surely they are simply great value examples of product development that have been around for years in the likes of M&S and Sainsbury’s but at a higher price.

So while Aldi and Lidl rapidly become the Ant and Dec of the awards circuit its time to face up to the reality that consumers are demanding newness that is exciting, disruptive and in tune with their food reference points in the world outside Supermarkets.

Millennials regularly cite brands that are leading the way in stirring emotional loyalty by creating product ideas that chime with their lifestyle needs.

Suppliers to the major Mults are constantly being pressured to share their innovation and this will ramp up as sales continue to switch to not only Discounters but also other channels like out of home and on line.

It’s perfectly possible to build an inspiring 3 year innovation pipeline in parallel with a 12 month tactical bank of concepts ready to either land in the trade or become a brand for your business.

We launched Inno-Vigor-ate with a US client to great success in 2017 and ever since have been helping small and large, brand and own label businesses with re invigorating their innovation pipeline to give them a competitive advantage as consumers and customers alike challenge us more and more for new and different product solutions.

If you want to hear more about how a modest investment of time and money can change your engagement trajectory with your customers and boost your sales in categories where growth has been tough then please contact me.