New food innovation in the U.S. took an expected decline in 2008 and 2009 in response to the recession. Despite an upturn in 2010, declines swiftly followed in 2011 and 2012, now looking to stabilize in 2013. However, while new food product launches have been faltering, the subset of those launches is that new packaging has been increasing. New product launches that were due to new packaging increased 72 percent from 2007 to 2012, indicating that food packaging innovation has recovered well from the recession. This reflects recognition by food companies that new packaging can bring increased consumer interest to an old product, either through improving the shopper moment or through offering new functionality. Flexible packaging has had the most success in this time period, with resealable bags and resealable stand-up pouches driving usage and product sales.
展开▼
