Ten ways to generate new ideas

Developing new product ideas is a constant challenge to NPD technologists. The following is a check-list of ways to keep new ideas generated:

1. Research the actual concept of the product or range and find out exactly where it came from. How has it changed in recent years? What accompaniments could you develop to go with it? Think of the consumer (end user), and envisage how the product is eaten or placed with other food components. Be aware of the new consumer demographic changes, ie the over-50s account for more than half of the grocery spend in the UK.

2. Review the market, especially the major multiples: price, size, shape, etc. (It often helps to do a comparison spreadsheet.) Look at market research and consumer surveys from Mintel and find out which products are selling well and which are the biggest brands.

Look at your competitors' promotional mechanics, such as three-for-twos and 'buy-one, get-one-frees', etc.

Think of ways to combine your existing products, ie 'get a free sachet of ...'.

3. The internet is an excellent tool when looking for new recipes. The databases have thousands of recipes, from basic ones to more elaborate ones and recipes with a twist, etc.

4. Read all the food magazines: Restaurant, Olive, Good Food, Delicious and the trade magazines such as British Baker and Food Manufacture.

5. Attend all the yearly food exhibitions and festivals. Visit speciality food shops. Watch as many relevant food documentaries on TV. Buy the latest cookery books and keep abreast of the new changes from celebrity chefs, ie Heston Blumenthal.

6. Delve into old ideas and recipes from your own NPD records over the years - is there something that didn't quite make it for one customer that could be resurrected and re-developed to fit your new brief?

7. Stay in constant touch with your current raw material suppliers. Be aware of their new development work and engage in regular presentations. Could you incorporate their new ideas into any of your existing lines to give them a twist?

8. Keep up-to-date with new packaging concepts - often a product can be re-designed to fit a new pack. Something as basic as a new sleeve or label can give an existing product a new slant and spark-off new ideas.

9. Walk through your factory on a regular basis and look at existing processes and production lines. What can you alter or enhance, enlarge or reduce, add or replace with different components?

10. Be aware of new engineering developments and equipment on site. If a new piece of kit has been bought for one range of products - what else could it be used for?