Quick off the mark

摘要

Of all the food sectors, the dairy market is the one with the largest amount of seasonal and trend-driven products. The bandwidths of different brands, flavours and functionalities are countless and are constantly changing. Therefore, in order for companies to keep up with the speedy innovation cycles and to stay competitive, it is crucial that they are able to use a method of product development that enables them to launch new lines quickly and react to trends without delay. To this end, flavour and fine ingredients supplier Frutarom practices a form of product development that is best described by the phrase "rapid prototyping". This is a process that already has a proven track record in the IT sector and is now also being used in the food industry.rn"Rapid prototyping" describes a quick, focused and efficient method of product development in which the desired product determines the course of action. Using the classical process for product development can take weeks or even months, whereas with rapid prototyping, it takes just a few days. This is important for companies for two reasons: firstly, innovation cycles are now much shorter than they used to be. New products are reaching the market faster, and diversification into areas such as seasonal products is increasing. In addition, consumers are looking for new flavours and functionalities. Companies that cannot satisfy these needs will fall by the wayside.