New product development

Before we launch any product, we need to develop a business case and obtain sign-off. This is also where our benchmarking panel get involved. We carry out blind tasting, where the product is tested with the packaging removed to ensure there’s no brand influence. It means that everything is about the taste.

So before our Smoothie could hit the shelves, it had to be compared with like-for-like products from our competitors and the leading brands. Many people are involved at this stage and they all have to give it the ‘thumbs-up’. These include Food Technologists, Buyers, Category Product Managers and Category Trading Managers.

A step closer to the launch

A second tasting took place to sign-off the original sample from the test kitchen. Three or four of the kitchen samples are sent for freezing; this gives us an original sample to compare to the factory version later.

We then tested making our Smoothie in one of our approved factories. Samples were extracted from the start, middle and end of the run, checked for consistency and compared to the frozen original samples. When all of these tests and comparisons were favourable, the Smoothie launch moved to the next stage.

Packaging and labelling

When it comes to the packaging and labelling of a product, there are a lot of things to take into account - even for our Smoothie. Each piece of information is vitally important. We have long advocated clear and responsible labelling of our products and we go to great lengths to make sure our customers know exactly what they are eating and drinking. 

We collated all of our Fairtrade Smoothie’s details regarding recipe, origin of ingredients, storage information, nutritional information, allergy information, and packaging material information. From this we identified all of the information that should be provided to our customers and ensured that it was part of our label design. We don’t just want our labels to look great – we want them to inform.

If you enjoy coming up with new ideas and developing products to high standards, then why not consider a role in our Product Development team?

Click here to see Allison's video, Category Product Manager