Why NPD gets a seat at the table right from the start

These last few years, we have been focusing on the multidisciplinary collaboration between R&D and Business and New Product Development (NPD). Because there used to be some static on the line between sales and NPD in the past, the latter team now gets a seat at the table right away, to discuss the needs and wishes of customers and consumers. NPD can now move much faster to deliver new products and improvements that meet everyone’s expectations.

Speed to market

Some of our projects have short lead times, which can range £from several months to just a few weeks. By standardising and digitalising the entire NPD process – from the request for a new product or an improvement to the actual launch – we managed to drastically increase our speed to market. Various departments are closely involved in this “lean stage & gate” process, such as FSQR, Engineering and Production. Together with the NPD team, they evaluate quality issues, capabilities, and process opportunities, among other topics.

Only when every aspect has been greenlighted by everyone, we move on to the next stage in the process. In this way, we ensure a great What’s Cooking? experience for our customers, from the brief to a delicious product on the shelves.

Inspired by passion

Every day, we are driven by our passion for delicious and healthy food, for our customers, animal welfare and the planet. We continually improve our products, in every way we can, without compromising on taste.

For instance, we are adding less salt to our dishes, using a potassium-based salt substitute instead. And our beloved Berliner sausage is now wrapped in a healthier jacket, containing only half the fat of the traditional casing made of bacon fat.

Did you know that our poultry products achieve a Nutri-Score B? And that the label is already printed on the packaging of 30% of these products, too?

Customers and collaborations

Many of our process and product optimisations are the result of the close collaboration between R&D and our suppliers, which our NPD team attaches so much importance to. But we also join forces with our customers to make the entire value chain as fair, sustainable, and transparent as possible. For example, our chicken fillet for a Dutch retailer is made with raw materials that adhere to the ‘Beter voor Kip, Natuur & Boer’ standards (‘Better for Chicken, Nature & Farmer’).

Plant-based

Finally, it is full speed ahead for our new plant-based offering, with ingredients that have a much smaller environmental footprint than their animal-based counterparts. A shift to more plant-based foods is in the best interests of consumers as well, who tend to overindulge in animal products while not eating enough plant-based foods like legumes, vegetables, grains, and seeds.

One of our main ambitions for 2023 is, then, to become a pioneer in the transition to more plant-based or alternative proteins. Our NPD team is determined to show that plant-based foods are not only healthy but affordable, easy, and delicious, too.

Elke De Witte Technology Manager