Product innovation in food processing—a Swedish survey

Abstract: Product development strategies in 20 major Swedish food processing companies are described and evaluated both from a company and a consumer point of view. Three types of company outcomes are focused on, technological, market and commercial success. Company variables related to success are size, ownership and research intensity. Strategic variables analyzed in relation to success are technology use, R and D cooperation and marketing. Consumer outcome is studied in terms of price differences, convenience, taste, nutritional benefit and medical value. As in previous studies carried out in the same research programme in more research and technology intensive industries, cooperating with the outside research environment and combining technologies is shown to be clearly associated with success in finding and developing new products. With regard to consumer outcome, convenience and taste differences are the most common attributes of new food products, differentiating them from existing products.