How Del Monte Foods Is Identifying Emerging Flavor Trends
Del Monte Foods is embracing technology within product innovation in order to more quickly identify emerging food trends and introduce efficiencies.
By marrying insights with geofencing technology, the CPG is better understanding how consumers engage with restaurant menu items, Bibie Wu, chief communications and technical development officer at Del Monte Foods, tells CGT.
For example, identifying the rising popularity of spicy flavors prompted the development of its just-launched Mexican Style Street Corn and Southern Style Green Beans, with more similar products planned for next year.
A host of insights was leveraged for these new SKUs, including trend tracking, attitude and usage studies, need state analysis, category consumption insights, focus groups, concept testing, product guidance testing, and product validation.
The company plans to launch more new products aligning with these new flavor trends next year.
Insights and Innovation
Some of these strategies are not new for Del Monte Foods. Wu, who served as chief marketing officer until earlier this year, says they’ve long tapped into virtual focus groups, geofencing, and AI-driven sentiment analysis.
Wu’s role was expanded to also lead product and packaging R&D, corporate communications, investor relations, and ESG, and she notes they have strong partnerships with such data providers as Circana, Hartman, Mintel, Kantar Monitor, and Datassentials. Through these partnerships, they leverage artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to identify and anticipate flavor trends and shifts in consumer preferences.
In one instance, Del Monte Foods worked with a supplier to cross-tab such key characteristics as ingredient composition and nutritional claims to see the types of new items performing best in the market. Predictive analytics highlighted a growing interest in botanical flavors in beverages, which informed new flavors for Del Monte’s Joyba line of ready-to-drink bubble tea.
Consumer Reviews
As with other CPGs, Del Monte Foods is exploring generative AI to enhance creative ideation by analyzing consumer data and emerging trends to drive concepts.
They gather consumer feedback through a range of digital channels, including social media engagement, consumer affairs communications, and product reviews on retailer websites.
“By closely monitoring comments, messages, and direct feedback on social platforms, we can assess sentiment and identify emerging trends,” says Wu. “This comprehensive analysis plays a vital role in shaping both product development and marketing communications.”
Insights from consumer reviews help them identify areas for improvement within product development and discover new white spaces. In marketing, these insights shape more tailored messaging to address consumer concerns, call out desired features, and create more compelling content.
AI-driven segmentation has resulted in more effective consumer targeting based on interests and online behavior.
Del Monte Foods also implemented programmatic advertising this year that automates real-time bidding and placement; in doing so, display messaging achieved over 50% greater efficiency than planned, says Wu.
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