Case Study: Out of the Box (Grocery Product Innovations)
Problem
A multinational food and drink company wanted to ensure their portfolio of dip-related products stayed ahead of shifting consumer demand. Their Strategy and Portfolio Management group was in the midst of a longterm strategic planning process and needed a snapshot of the most lucrative grocery product innovations on the horizon to guide the vision for their company’s future products.
Though the company already offered a variety of snack products and had plenty of industry insight, the team wanted to ensure they weren’t overlooking any rising trends that could be the next guacamole or hummus blockbuster.
Critical Issues
Growth Strategy Grocery Product Futurescaping Portfolio Management
The Solution
The Maven Account Manager understood that the team needed multiple industry perspectives, so she recommended launching a Virtual Ideation Panel to convene professionals across a number of different grocery categories simultaneously. Maven invited 18 food and drink professionals with direct experience evaluating rising grocery product innovations. Within a week, the participants began engaging in a lively brainstorm and round-the-clock discussion of the biggest potential opportunities within the dip and snack foods market.
During the five-day panel, the expert moderator summarized key take-aways and insights from the participants, and facilitated the evaluation process to reach consensus about which product category presented the most opportunity. With this information, the team was able to move forward confidently in the development of their longterm strategy and mobilize other groups within the company to begin the necessary work to expand their dip offerings.
“As someone who is very familiar with this market, I was surprised by how much these Mavens were able contribute new ideas and concepts that my team and I simply did not think of. This was a great exercise and a clear success in helping to define our strategy moving forward.” – Senior Director of Strategy & Planning
