Food Processing - July 09
R&D TEAMS OF THE YEAR
internal team before they go to focus groups. Once we’ve nailed down our product, we begin naming and branding, which is all done in-house. We continue to utilize the e ective GumsareGood2.eps 6/22/2009 1:23:37 PM name-storming process that was originally used
to come up with the company name.” As a small company, the key decision makers are able to get together regularly and work as one unit, so decision-making is quick and efcient. “Once a new product has been loosely
Peas of Mind’s original hand-held Puffets (left) recently were joined by Veggie Wedgies.
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worked in the test kitchen, our production managers, sales and marketing are brought in to give feedback and continue to discuss the feasibility of the product,” says Walsh. “We also include a few of our key retail buyers in the processes. We establish an internal timeline for introducing new products. August (back to school) and January (new year) are two favorable times for us to bring products to market.” Health is of course a top priority because Peas of Mind creates food for kids. “ e grocery store is loaded with plenty of food items with bright colors, cartoon characters and cute shapes that mean ‘this product is for kids,’ ” says Litwin. “However, most of the time, these products are made with ingredients that most adults can’t even pronounce. If we want to combat the growing children’s obesity problem and give kids a chance at leading healthy adult lives, we have to make feeding them not only easy, but actually healthy.” Since Peas of Mind is not a baby food company, it does not directly compete with Gerber or Beech Nut. “Our competition is really the less healthy alternatives you see in the freezer section like frozen processed chicken nuggets, pizza rolls and nutritionally unbalanced frozen dinners,” remarks Walsh. “Peas of Mind is an option for parents looking for quick and easy food that is well-balanced and nutritious…oh, and yummy…to feed their growing kids.”
LOTS MORE ON THE WEB
There are longer versions of all three of these stories on our web site: start at
www.FoodProcessing.
com/articles/2009/rdteams.html. There also is a video interview with Jeff Bellairs of General Mills.
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FOOD PROCESSING JULY 2009 FOODPROCESSING.COM
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