SymphonyIRI New Product Pacesetters Report Finds Leading Brands Bring Value While Raising the Bar on Consumer Expectations

MIAMI BEACH, March 29, 2011 - Today, SymphonyIRI Group Summit 2011 featured the announcement of the most successful food and beverage and non-foods consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands of 2010.  The announcement was made during the much-anticipated presentation of SymphonyIRI's annual New Product Pacesetters report, an industry-recognized benchmark analysis of exceptional first-year CPG sales success for newly launched products.  The theme of this year's report, "Innovating Growth in a Down Economy," underscores the success that CPG marketers are finding in bringing to market products that raise the bar on consumer expectations around everyday CPG solutions.

"These Pacesetter products are forever changing the CPG landscape," said Larry Levin, executive vice president, Consumer Insights, SymphonyIRI. "In spite of ongoing economic and market challenges, the manufacturers of these brands showed their grit in 2010. They invested to understand the roles their products could play in helping consumers navigate difficult financial waters. And, they used that knowledge to develop and deliver powerful new products that are filling those roles quite nicely."

Food & Beverage
In 2010, successful food and beverage innovation heavily catered to home-based eating rituals.  Innovation around breakfast solutions and salty snacks accelerated, together representing more than half of new food dollars. The juices, milks and waters, and coffee and tea beverage segments demonstrated similar strength, outperforming, by far, trends witnessed during the past several years.  The top 10 food and beverage product launches of 2010 capitalized on home-based consumption, but simultaneously delivered against consumer desires for health and wellness, with just a little bit of indulgence along the way.

2010 New Product Pacesetters: Top 10 Food and Beverage Brands ($ Millions)
(Total Year-One Dollar Sales Across Food, Drug, and Mass Channels, excluding Walmart)

POWERADE ION4

$190.5

Chobani

$149.4

Wonderful Pistachios

$114.1

glacéau vitaminwater zero

$110.3

Nature's Pride 

 $80.8

Trop50

$74.4

Thomas' Better Start

$74.2

Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups

$62.1

Budweiser Select 55

$59.9

Trident Layers 

$53.9

Source: SymphonyIRI New Product Profiler

"It was an exciting year for food and beverage manufacturers," said Susan Viamari, editor, Times & Trends, SymphonyIRI. "Evolving consumer trends opened the door to a broad range of innovation opportunities.  Food and beverage manufacturers really did a phenomenal job seizing those opportunities to drive market growth."

Non-Foods
The economic downturn of a couple of years ago, coupled with advancing technology and new product ingredients, came together to encourage a move away from the professional spa and into the home spa.  It's a trend that continues today, even as the economy emerges from the recession.  Non-foods manufacturers are feverishly working to support this movement.  New launches across health, beauty and personal care are capturing an increased share of spending in the non-foods arena.  These departments are well-represented in the ranks of the most successful non-food launches of 2010, and they are raising consumer expectations around the power of do-it-yourself, at-home care.

2010 New Product Pacesetters: Top 10 Non-Foods Brands ($ Millions)
(Total Year-One Dollar Sales Across Food, Drug, and Mass Channels, excluding Walmart)

Crest 3D White

$154.1

Prevacid 24HR

$127.0

Plan B One-Step

 $78.3

Next Choice

 $78.0

Huggies Pull-Ups Learning Designs

 $66.8

Dove Men Care

 $54.2

Olay Professional Pro-X

 $49.4

Scope Outlast/Crest Extra White Plus Scope Outlast/Oral-B Advantage Plus Scope Outlast

$46.8

Dove Body Wash with NutriumMoisture

$40.5

LISTERINE/REACH TOTAL CARE

$39.8

"Non-foods innovation continues to be heavily driven by trends in home care, self care and beauty care," continued Viamari.  "Even as the economy improves, these habits will likely remain strong.  Savvy CPG manufacturers will continue to help consumers look and feel their best, recognizing budgets remain tight and consumers remain exceptionally conservative."