Major players experience major increases

Prepared Foods, March, 2004 by Lynn Dornblaser

Every year, the Global New Products Database (GNPD) takes a close look at the number of products introduced by some of the largest consumer packaged goods companies.

The companies at the top of the list rarely change--they have included Kraft, Nestle, General Mills (and Pillsbury), ConAgra and Unilever in almost every year in the last decade or so. Once past the top five companies, the lineup may vary, but almost always includes big players such as PepsiCo, Sara Lee, Campbell Soup, Kellogg's (including Keebler), Heinz, Hershey, Hormel and Masterfoods.

Unique for 2003 is that most of the companies in the Top 20 listing experienced increases in the number of new products when compared to 2002 introductions; many of those companies experienced double-digit increases. Kraft, at the top of the list, was one of the few with a very slight decline in new products launched.

A few notes on the largest companies: Nestle's increase reflects growth in introductions in beverages (water, coffee and tea) and pet food. Increases from General Mills can be attributed to extensions of the company's broad Helper meal kit line and additional Pillsbury biscuit, roll and cookie dough products. Unilever extended its brands with Carb Options carb-reduced versions of many of its main brands.

Top 20 U.S. Food Companies
(by number of products introduced in 2003)

                                          2003      2002     % change

Kraft Foods                                 230       238         -3%
Nestle                                      214       148         45%
General Mills                               184       146         26%
ConAgra                                     176       138         28%
Unilever                                    125       112         12%
Schwan Food                                 115       112          3%
PepsiCo                                     112       115         -3%
Tyson Foods                                 109        49        122%
Sara Lee                                    105        55         91%
Campbell Soup                                91        84          8%
Kellogg's                                    90        70         29%
Heinz                                        78        65         22%
Hain-Celestial Group                         77        26        196%
McCormick/Schilling                          76        18        322%
Pelican Bay                                  72         8        800%
Eden Foods                                   65         4       1525%
Hershey                                      59        24        146%
Hormel Foods                                 58        39         49%
Mars                                         56        27        107%
Total                                     2,092     1,478         42%
Total introductions (all companies)      14,693    12,475         18%
Percent top 20 of total introductions    14.20%    11.84%

Source: Global New Products Database