For its 2024 vintage, the International Food Fair (Sial) marked the return of innovation, with 2,200 product launches, compared to 1,500 two years earlier, a time when rising inflation and the war in Ukraine had curbed the desire for new things. However, unlike the 2022 edition, the glory hour for imitation meats, this year’s edition, which was held in Villepinte this fall, was marked by a return to reason.
The start-up specializing in plant-based steaks Beyond Meat saw its stand reduced to nothing, far from the large display of the last edition. “Itwo years ago, we noticed a craze around start-ups, with innovations going in all directionsconfirms Xavier Terlet, the innovation specialist at ProtéinesXTC. This year, the actors presented less fake meat and made more effort on naturalness, preferring to highlight plants rather than making copies.»
On the drinks side, Jacques Ferté, the former boss of Gallia beer, sold to Heineken in 2021, is trying to rediscover chicory, grown in France and Europe. Its new brand, Cherico, offers a whole range with revisited flavors. As the pendulum swings, players in traditional products such as meat and dairy products predominated at the show, with attractive stands.
Wisdom also means keeping up with changing consumption habits. “Snacking (products intended to be consumed quickly, such as prepared salads and smoothies, editor’s note), and more broadly products suitable for fast food, is growingconfides Dominique Chargé, the president of Agricultural Cooperation, the lobby of the cooperative world. Our international competitors have taken care of this dimension better than us. We must think about adapting our sectors and our agricultural production to these markets”
Be careful about prices
To the trend towards snacking, we must add two watchwords in the quest for new products: please the consumer and contain prices. As is often the case, the lesson comes from Italy. The star innovation on the shelves in 2024 is Nutella ice cream. Our colleague, the magazine “LSA”, reports, with Nielsen IQ data to support it, that Ferrero’s latest sweet discovery achieved the best shelf launch in all categories since 2019… and Nutella biscuits! “The consumer needs to see the benefit behind the priceinsists Xavier Terlet. If organic is collapsing, it is not because it has no value, but because the value perceived by the customer is uncorrelated with the sales price. »
Be careful to think carefully about the selling price of your innovations. Especially since, as the consultant points out, distributors are not inclined to give gifts in this area. They often recover from new arrivals on the shelves the margins that they sacrificed on more basic products with appeal. For food manufacturers, these launches remain an opportunity, because small emerging brands, like Cherico or the young company Gramm with its vegetable crackers, prefer to entrust production to subcontractors. “Let’s deploy a commercial strategy first, then we’ll see about production», Estimates serial entrepreneur Jacques Ferté.
You are reading an article from L’Usine Nouvelle 3737 – December 2024
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Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
