World Dairy Innovation Awards 2019: what does innovation mean to our judging panel?

We asked our judges what innovation means to them when considering the winners for this year’s World Dairy Innovation Awards. Below are some of their responses, which can help you when entering our Dairy awards scheme, to be held at the Global Dairy Congress on the 26 June.

To find out more about the awards, click here.

Maya Orr

I’ve worked with producers varying in size, as well as for one of the largest retailing groups in Europe, and in terms of innovation, it’s great to see products that come from suppliers who truly have their finger on the pulse. The spectrum is so wide, and the dairy industry is vast, so it’s not always the most exciting innovations that stand out; often there is a need for change and therefore new innovation often prevails.

When judging, I will be looking for a number of things, such as:

Products that stand out – whether it’s their appearance, or marketing text on packaging, I will be looking at a product’s initial appeal.
Does it do what it says on the tin? – Does it appeal to the desired target audience or have mass appeal? What’s the functionality like?
Relevance? – Is this a product that has a place in the current market? Can this product stand the test of time?
Packaging – are you in keeping with market trends, ahead of the curve or outdated? Have you considered economic factors such as sustainability?
Innovation – is this product truly unique? Will this stand out from its competition?

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing your submissions!

Marcelo Carvalho

I am mostly interested in the following types of innovation in dairy products:

Products with a strong narrative: products that have a compelling story behind, as provenance, tradition, fair trade, sustainability and social responsibility.
Products with a strong nutrition/health claim, using dairy ingredients as an essential part of the value proposal.
Products that innovate in packaging/portioning.
Products that create new opportunities for consumption of dairy goods, such as savoury yoghurt.
Products that innovate in distribution (e.g. new channels).

Donna Berry

As a degreed food scientist who has been tracking consumer trends and innovation for more than 25 years, I appreciate when all aspects of product development are thoroughly addressed by the companies participating in the World Dairy Innovation Awards.

Here’s what I want to know:

What is the intent of the product? Is it to deliver nutrition? Provide convenience? Simply enjoy? Why does the market need this product?
What makes this product different than similar products in the marketplace? Does it require special ingredients or processing technology?
Were there any technical hurdles to overcome in its development? Does it use any patented technology?
What role does the package play? Is it just a vessel to carry the product or is a critical part of the concept?
How is the company communicating the benefits or value of the product to consumers?

All food and beverage processors are “upping” their game to appeal to millennials, the demographic that continues to disrupt the food industry with their cravings for adventure, flavour, information and simplicity. The dairy foods industry is well poised to deliver on all of these attributes. That’s what I am looking for in the submissions for this year’s World Dairy Innovation Awards. The real industry disrupters – and winners – will be the innovators who think beyond the traditional refrigerated and frozen dairy cases.

Yumiko Magara Wilkey

Once again, I am delighted to be invited to the judging panel of the World Dairy Innovation Awards, and very much look forward to seeing the latest innovations in the global dairy industry!

I am particularly interested in:

The originality and simplicity of the product’s concept. Personally, it is often the first impression that counts when it comes to spotting a new product in store, and the way brands communicate with consumers in all channels, particularly in social media, has become more important.
Does it have that “it” factor which stands out from the rest? Also, is the product’s concept communicated clearly and simply? Increasingly, consumers are influenced by the brand’s story behind the product.
How well the product is responding to the rising consumer needs for functional ingredients and how they are adapting to consumers’ fast-changing tastes as well as lifestyle choices.
Authenticity and transparency of the product is important, as consumers today are becoming more educated on the ethical and sustainable manufacturing process. Buying from ethically and sustainably operating companies automatically gives today’s consumers a feel-good factor and this has become an important aspect of the product identity.

Lastly, the use of social media has become so powerful today. It now takes a lot more than just on-pack messages to grab consumer’s attention and I would be interested to learn about the style of marketing for each product.

Gerrit Smit

For me, important aspects to judge a new dairy innovation are:

What is the key newness the product brings for the consumer? What are the most relevant consumer benefits? Nutrition, convenience, indulgence, sustainability, clean label? What would attract the consumer about the product in the first place…
Does the product distinguish itself from already existing products in the (local) marketplace? Does it require special ingredients or processing technology?
Was there a new technology hurdle realised to make its development possible and is there a patented technology behind it?
What role does the package play? And how is is/are the benefit(s) communicated towards the (targeted) consumers? Does it deliver the promise?
How does the product perform in the market after introduction? Good sales figures confirm that there must be a benefit for consumers…

Good luck with innovating!

Raquel Melo

Here are some of the factors that I’ll consider as I review this year’s slate of exciting innovation entries:

Does the product have a clear job to do? Is it relevant? Does it deliver against a clear consumer need or “job to be done”?
Is the product well-positioned? So many products deliver on taste, package design, or package ingenuity itself, only to fail at telling their own story. When well-positioned, a consumer should be able to understand at a glance the who, what, why, when, and where.
Is the product well-formulated? Regardless of a new product’s benefits and attributes, how does it taste? For products that deliver on health & wellness news, how effectively does the product balance formulation ingenuity with fundamentally great taste and sensorial experience?
Does the product break-through? Is the product differentiated? Does the branding or positioning tell a fresh story? Is there an element of newness in the proposition, formulation, packaging, or sourcing that suggests a “wow”? Is the breakthrough in the path to market, such as speed or unique channel delivery? That counts too!
Does the product have the potential to drive category growth? Ultimately, every product must prove its worth in the marketplace, and those that are most successful not only advance their own agenda but help to grow the category (or categories) that they belong to as well. This is particularly true in dairy, where there are big shifts in consumer preferences. Can the retailer count on this product to help move the category in the right direction?

There’s an additional factor that I tend to look for as well, and that is perseverance or grit. Is this product an entrepreneurial labour of love, or the work of a high performing team that toiled together to achieve a technological breakthrough? Is this a case of “if at first, you don’t succeed”? We have all seen products that were simply launched before their time and languished, only to succeed in their second or third time out of the gate. Perseverance counts too!