IRI: Less than 3% of New Products Exceed $50M in First Year Sales

CHICAGO — Frito Wow! had the most successful CPG product debut of the past decade, according to a new Information Resources Inc. Times & Trends report.

Offering consumers the taste of traditional Lay's, Ruffles and Doritos but with less fat and up to half the calories, it brought in $347.2 million in first-year sales. Vanilla Coke, with $292.1 million in sales, and Pepsi One with $225.3 million, followed in popularity.

The items are among the less than 3% of new products that exceed $50 million in year-one sales, according to IRI. Fewer than eight in 10 pass the $7.5 million mark. Brand extensions are more common than entirely new brand introductions since they require less investment and shorter lead times. The drawback is an average 13% less in year-one sales across food and beverage categories and 49% less across non-foods.

About one in ten successful new products are also new brands. Swiffer, introduced in 2000, and Febreeze in 1998, are examples of these, according to the report, which also highlighted crossover success stories like Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which made its CPG debut in 2008, and Iams pet food in 2001.

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