Food For thought - Working in NPD

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New Product Development (NPD) is the powerhouse of the food industry driving innovation of new products and leveraging value from the upgrading or repositioning of existing brands. In 2006 almost 105 new food and drink products were launched globally (Rowan 2007) - that equates to 300 for every day of the year - of those launched it is estimated that some 30 - 50,000 will succeed. (Brody and Lord 2000)

 

Developing a product normally happens in three phases:

• 1-Product Definition - Defining the strategic plan and market opportunity
• 2- Product Implementation - Developing the prototype, consumer testing, modification and factory trials
• 3 -Product Introduction - Product Launch

Basically it involves taking a concept (which could be developed from a client brief or from market analysis finding a gap in the market) from idea to reality. You could be working with new and exciting ingredients to invent new recipes, or reworking old recipes, for example, to reduce fats and sugars without losing taste and texture to appeal to changing consumer demand, or extend a product life by changing a flavour combination, for example putting toffee in jammy dodgers.

 

Typically there will be a large multi skilled team involved right from the development kitchens with development chefs, specification technologists, through sensory evaluation, microbiology, nutritional analysis and microbiology, process engineering, design and development of packaging all under the watchful eye of food safety and compliance.  Factory trials involve operations, logistics, procurement and planning, supply chain and quality control.  Marketing and sales develop marketing strategies and get the product in front of consumers, whilst the legal team look after compliance, regulations and copyright.

 

So an exciting, diverse job in a fast moving consumer driven business which demands creativity, customer facing skills, great written and spoken communication skills and the ability to work in teams across a range of departments in the business.  Other key skills needed to succeed include attention to detail, the ability to manage your time and meet deadlines, and to be able to solve problems.

 

Getting in to NPD could happen through moving from being a trained and experienced chef in hospitality into a development kitchen, but more likely following higher education (BSc Food Science, HNC / HND in Food Technology or similar) and 1 - 2 years experience in a food processing environment. 

 

Salaries for an NPD Technologist range from £17,000 - £25,000 depending on the role, the company and location.

 

Senior Technologists could expect £25000 - 33000k, NPD Managers £30,000 - £45,000k again depending on the scope of the role and size and location of the company.