A simple checklist of the steps involved with taking your ice cream or frozen dessert from conception to market.

Ask yourself, what is the product, who it is the intended audience, what special component will the product include 

 Overview/Purpose/Introduction

  • To educate the reader to all the tasks that must be completed to successfully take a food product idea from concept to market shelf.
  • Relevant to US readers with a dairy or nondairy frozen product idea.
  • Determine who and what is needed (including capitalization) to successfully take your food product idea to market

Your Idea:

  • The difference between a business concept that is successful and one that is not successful.
  • Not all ideas people have are successful getting to the market
  • Why new product ideas do not make it to the market
  • Is there a need for your new product?
  • How do you determine if the prospective buyer will like your product?

Outside Feedback

  • What are others saying about your new food product idea.
  • Market research
  • Competition
  • Pricing
  • Size/serving
  • Category
  • Flavors
  • Location for buying
  • How to do research, where to do research, who can do it for you, how much does it cost, how much time will it take.

Are You Still On-board?

  • What the feedback tells you
  • Green light or red light
  • Going in a different direction
  • New ideas, disprove previous assumptions
  • Incorporating the market feedback into your plan

Form a Company:

  • If you have a company already
  • For profit/not for profit
  • LLC, Inc., c-corp
  • Partnership, limited partnership, silent partners
  • Steps to take if you need to establish a company
  • Register the name
  • EIN vs SSN
  • Trademark(s)
  • Insurance (liability)
  • Web addresses
  • Email address convention
  • Contact info
  • Phone numbers
  • Address

Mission/Vision/Values /Business Plan

  • Steps in the Overall Process (product concept to delivering the product) :
  • Converting a kitchen recipe to a commercial formula
  • Converting grocery store ingredient to ingredients used in commercial production
  • Testing the formula in a commercial environment
  • Finalizing the commercial formula – red light/green light
  • Butter fat and over-run
  • Flavors
  • Cost of goods sold
  • Packaging – size, quantity
  • Secure ingredients supply chain
  • external packaging considerations
  • UPC
  • Ingredient statement
  • Nutritional information
  • Name, logo, graphics
  • Secure packaging vendor(s)

Identifying the best manufacturing environment

  • Outside co-pack manufacturer
  • Build your own manufacturing facility

Target Customer:

  • Where are they – local, regional or national
  1. B2B
  • Retail
  • Institutional
  • Wholesale /  Distributor
  1. B2C – direct to the consumer
  • Company owned retail store
  • Web sales
  • Company owned food truck

What channels and who is going to help sell the product:

  1. Product Distribution versus product Delivery
  • How they are different
  • Pros/cons
  • What they do
  • What they cost
  • How they can be important
  1. Broker
  • What they do
  • What they cost
  • Are they important
  1. Make it and They Will Come:
  • Make the product first then sell
  • Obtain a PO for business then make the product for those customers
  • Pros/Cons

Marketing and Brand Support:

  • Target customer
  • SWOT analysis
  • Competition and positioning
  • Name
  • Logos
  • Push vs Pull strategies

Pros/Cons

  1. Advertising (various mediums)
  • Trade shows
  • Print media
  • Electronic media
  • Broadcast media
  • Sampling/Demo’s
  • Giveaways (SWAG)
  1. Pricing strategies
  • Coupons
  • Discounts and incentives
  1. Sales strategies
  • Company employees
  • 3rd party sales reps
  • Compensation schemes

Continuous Improvement:

  • Customer feedback
  • Manufacturing process efficiencies and improvements
  • Product enhancements / Improvements / Ingredient changes
  • Channel / distribution improvements
  • New product development – extend or expand
  • Staying abreast with market changes

Determine Your Success- how do you know if you have been successful? (what KPIs will you use)

  • Money – cash flow or profit
  • Public awareness, brand recognition
  • Mission / Vision / Value alignment
Darryl David
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