5 CPG Innovation Examples of Disciplined Choices

In Protein. Fiber. Gut health. Add GLP-1 to the mix, and I'm sure we'll soon see additional trends shaping food and beverage innovation. Responding to these trends, PepsiCo introduced Doritos Protein and Pepsi Prebiotic Cola, while Kellanova launched Pop-Tarts Protein. These launches illustrate an interesting dilemma: Will iconic brands win by following consumer trends -or by staying true to what made them iconic in the first place? Consumers evaluate innovation through years of memories, emotions, and expectations associated with a brand. They don't ask: "Does it deliver the latest functional benefit?" They ask: "Does this feel like something this brand would do?” Since iconic brands don't just offer us a product to buy. They own an idea to buy into. The North Face owns exploration. Red Bull owns energy. Volvo owns safety. Disney owns magic. Brands should evolve. But they shouldn't evolve away from themselves. That is the real challenge of innovation: finding new ways to reinforce what consumers have always loved about the brand. Grow the brand by making it more itself—not something else. For your brands, where do you draw the line between following a trend and staying true to the brand essence? #marketing #innovation #trends #leadership #humanizingbusiness #food #beverages #brands #RedBull #Doritos #Pepsi #Disney #GLP1 #brands #branding #CMO #Kellanova #Mars #PopTarts #Volvo Innate Motion #TheNorthFace #Kelloggs Marcella Nigro Rachel Taylor Martina Peccerillo Jasmine Huang Qian Gilda Zárate Chabluk Ben Bogaerts Image: Gemini

Consumers increasingly want foods that balance health, indulgence, and convenience. “Healthy enough” products combine functional ingredients such as protein or fiber with enjoyable flavors and formats. Brand collaborations, social media launches, and retail partnerships are becoming key drivers of product discovery and growth. See link in comments. Kevin C. Kenny

One product. One strategic decision. Millions of new customers. When Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke, it wasn’t simply adding another beverage to its portfolio,it was redefining who its customer could be. For decades, Coca-Cola was synonymous with its classic formula. But as consumer preferences shifted toward healthier, lower-calorie alternatives, the company recognized an opportunity. Instead of asking consumers to compromise between taste and lifestyle, it created a product that delivered the Coca-Cola experience with no sugar and no calories. The result? Diet Coke opened the doors to an entirely new customer segment health conscious consumers, calorie conscious professionals, fitness enthusiasts, and people who had previously avoided soft drinks altogether. This is a powerful lesson in marketing: Growth doesn’t always come from selling more to your existing customers. Sometimes, it comes from creating a reason for entirely new customers to choose your brand. That’s the power of understanding changing consumer behavior and innovating without losing your brand identity. Here’s my take on how a single product extension became one of the most successful examples of market expansion. #CocaCola #DietCoke #Marketing #BrandStrategy #ProductStrategy #ConsumerBehavior #Innovation #BusinessStrategy #MantraChallenge #CokeAmbassador

What happens when consumer habits change after a $5 billion acquisition? Hostess is facing weaker demand, shifting health priorities, GLP-1 adoption, and new pressure from value-conscious shoppers. The result offers a cautionary lesson for legacy CPG brands betting on nostalgia without adapting to how consumers now define indulgence. What does the future of indulgent snacking look like, and how should legacy brands adapt? https://lnkd.in/efuCjxv3 #FoodManufacturing #FoodIndustry #BusinessNews #CPG #FoodTrends

What happens when consumer habits change after a $5 billion acquisition? Hostess is facing weaker demand, shifting health priorities, GLP-1 adoption, and new pressure from value-conscious shoppers. The result offers a cautionary lesson for legacy CPG brands betting on nostalgia without adapting to how consumers now define indulgence. What does the future of indulgent snacking look like, and how should legacy brands adapt? https://lnkd.in/efuCjxv3 #FoodManufacturing #FoodIndustry #BusinessNews #CPG #FoodTrends

Monica Garaitonandia makes a great point! I don't think the biggest miss has been a single food trend, it's been how quickly consumer attention shifts. Today's consumers don't just discover products in the grocery aisle anymore. They discover them while streaming TV, reading recipes, scrolling social, listening to podcasts, or browsing online. By the time a trend shows up in retail sales data, it's often already mainstream. That's why I think established CPG brands have been slowest to recognize the importance of reaching consumers before they're in-market. Programmatic advertising gives brands the ability to identify high-intent audiences, activate first-party data, and show up across every screen where buying decisions are actually being influenced, not just where purchases happen. The brands winning today aren't just responding to consumer behavior. They're finding emerging demand earlier and building relevance before everyone else catches up.

A year ago, "GLP-1 strategy" wasn't on many product development roadmaps. Today? It probably should be. Millions of Americans are changing the way they eat, not just how much they eat. They're looking for foods that deliver more protein, more nutrition, and more satisfaction in fewer bites. That shift is already influencing everything from grocery carts to restaurant menus. The brands that come out ahead won't be the ones chasing the latest health claim. They'll be the ones asking better questions: ➡️ Does this product earn its place in a consumer's day? ➡️ Is every bite delivering enough value? ➡️ Are we designing for where consumer behavior is headed, not where it's been? GLP-1 isn't just creating a new customer segment. It's redefining what consumers expect from food. Our latest blog dives into the data, the market signals, and what they mean for CPG brands and foodservice operators looking to stay ahead. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gZW3W2Pb #FoodIndustry #CPG #FoodInnovation #ConsumerInsights #ProductDevelopment #FoodManufacturing #GLP1 #Foodservice

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧: 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. At Wirral Sensory Services, we help brands turn consumer feedback into confident business decisions. Through sensory testing, product optimisation, packaging research, and focus groups, we give you the evidence needed to refine products, reduce risk, and improve market performance. Whether you're developing a new product, benchmarking against competitors, or exploring new markets - consumer insight is often the difference between a product that launches and a product that succeeds. 💡 Understand what consumers really think 📈 Make data-driven decisions 🚀 Bring better products to market with confidence For nearly three decades, we've partnered with brands across food, beverage, household, and pet sectors, to turn feedback into action. #ConsumerResearch #SensoryResearch #ConsumerInsights #ProductDevelopment #Innovation #FoodInnovation #MarketResearch #ProductTesting #BrandStrategy #PackagingResearch #WSS

💧 One observation about the beverage industry has always fascinated me. On paper, standalone beverages contribute only around 7–10% of the overall FMCG market value. Yet, if you walk into a retail store, travel through a city, or scroll social media, beverages seem to dominate shelves, coolers, displays, and advertising. Why? Because beverages are purchased frequently, drive visibility, and create daily consumer engagement. More importantly, water is the foundation of every beverage—and water is one of the Panch Tatva (the five fundamental elements of life). That's why I believe the beverage category is much more than a business segment. It is a category built around one of life's most essential needs. As lifestyles evolve, demand for hydration, nutrition, convenience, and functional drinks will continue to grow. In many ways, investing in beverages is investing in a category that supports life itself. #FMCG #BeverageIndustry #ConsumerGoods #Retail #Water #Innovation #BusinessStrategy #IndiaMarket

Trends in food and beverage can feel like a path brands should follow when it comes to CPG product innovation. But the truth is, in isolation, they simply aren’t. Trends are a snapshot in time. They show us something that is resonating, but the problem is the trend itself doesn’t usually provide context as to why it’s working. Many brands see protein, global flavors, functional beverages, and they think: “we should do that too.” But that’s not a strategy. That’s replication. The best CPG consulting firms use trends as signals, not answers. Successful product innovation requires translating trend signals into jobs to be done and better product decisions. We broke down the right vs wrong way to use trends in CPG innovation in our recent article - the link is in the comments.