Pushing boundaries

Earlier this week, I talked about how products with unique colors are gaining fame via Instagram but what these unique products are also resulting in is innovation. Why is that important to the consumer?

Without innovation, when you walk down an aisle and look for a product, you’d most likely just see one or two choices and not the many choices you have. Factors such as ingredients, packaging, sizing, convenience are all taken into account when designing an end product for the consumer but innovation can also be presenting something that you might not think you need or want.

What this means in the food and beverage industry is what can we put together that is unique yet familiar? A good example would be smash mallows (https://smashmallow.com/). Smash mallows are re-imagined forms of marshmallows and are a huge hit. By capitalizing on the snacking phenomenon and introducing new flavors, the company had a hit product. Similarly, something familiar is coffee. So when you see launches of turmeric lattes or broccoli coffee, you are immediately intrigued because what just happened to your coffee? Not only are you able to get your caffeine but now you are able to get some health benefits via added nutrients.

Are some of these unique flavor combos a fad? Perhaps but at least it drives traffic into a business as well as provides you nutrients that you might have missed out on that day.