Multiple new product warheads light up FMI show

Prepared Foods, July, 1992 by Martin Friedman

Before the "Age of Acquisition" (circa 1960s), food companies used the mammoth Food Marketing Institute's Supermarket Industry Convention and Educational Exposition to introduce their hot new products to the retail trade. Usually, one or two items would be displayed, sampled and talked-up at the exhibition booth. Now that many food companies consist of dozens of subsidiaries with scores of product lines in several food categories, a cascade of new items is showcased at the FMI extravaganza.

Kraft General Foods presented 85 new nationally distributed products to retailers and a large contingent of American food editors. Some of the items had been available in regional markets, such as Jell-O Pudding Snacks, but now all are in national distribution. Significant newcomers were cholesterol-free Di Giorno spaghetti and lasagna, Good Seasons nonfat salad dressing mixes for fat-free dressings (no need to add oil), Post Great Grains whole-grain cereals, Oscar Mayer Healthy Favorites lowfat cold cuts, Jell-O brand gelatin snacks, Cool Whip chocolate nondairy topping, Maxwell House cappuccino mixes, and Maxwell House Lite coffee (with half the caffeine).

General Mills also weighed in with a variety of heavily promoted new products and line extensions. Following the outstanding sales success of its Apple Cinnamon and Honey Nut Cheerios, the Minneapolis firm is now out with Multi Grain Cheerios, made from whole-grain corn, oats, rice and wheat. Other Big G cereal newcomers are Berry Berry Kix and Breakfast Pack, an eight-pack single-serve assortment. Also of note are Betty Crocker Dessert Bar Mixes (containing brand-name ingredients such as Reese's peanut butter chips, Sunkist lemon, Heath toffee pieces and Kraft caramels). Betty Crocker Recipe Sauces are available in five flavors: cacciatore, stroganoff, teriyaki, pepper steak, and sweet and sour. The sauces allow consumers to make convenient meat entrees using chicken, beef or pork. Nature Valley Granola Bites and Yoplait Parfait Style Yogurt are other General Mills newcomers.

Campbell Soup will soon be launching three new condensed soups - golden corn, double noodle, and Italian tomato - as well as Home Cooking New England clam chowder, and Healthy Request chicken and vegetables, chicken and rice, chicken broth and cream of chicken. Pepperidge Farm Homestyle Croutons, Swanson's Fun Feast Kids Meals, Where's Waldo Spaghetti O's and Marie's Blueberry Glaze are other major introductions from this multi-category manufacturer.

Gerber is moving into more niche categories as it attempts to blanket every segment of the baby food market. Its Tropical line, the first group of baby food products for the Hispanic market, was unveiled along with a 23-item line of Gerber Graduates specifically developed to meet the nutritional needs and feeding behavior of toddlers aged 10 to 30 months. The line includes Finger Foods, Finger Snacks, calcium-enriched juices, and the the original selection of Microwavable Main Dishes.

Keebler is another company that believes more is better. Its FMI booth featured Sweet Spots, a bite-sized shortbread cookie with a chocolate drop top; Toffee Toppers, the first fudge-covered cookie to combine toffee and chocolate; Quangles multi-grain chips; Cheddar O'Boisies snack chips; Traditional Bavarian and Traditional Knot pretzels; Whole Wheat Club crackers; and Whole Wheat Town House crackers.

New product introductions may have slowed slightly from 1991's record levels, but for the food industry giants new items continue to spill out of the imagination of product developers and the skills of food scientists and technologists.