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3.4: New Product Concept Market and Grocery Store Research Worksheet

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    New Product Concept Information

    1. Please provide a brief description of your new product concept or concepts. Try to limit your team’s plans to not more than two ideas. The faster you decide on a single new product concept, the quicker you can get started with formulation. If you do want to pursue two ideas, you will need to provide market research on both.

    2. What unique ingredients will you need, if any?

    3. Will any of the ingredients be cost-prohibitive?

    4. What unique equipment will you need for processing?

    5. Any allergens of concern?

    6. Any nutritional compositional concerns (fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, etc.)?

    7. How will your new product concept fit with current trends? Does your new product concept fit a gap in the market? Please explain how your idea will be defendable based on consumer selling points.

    8. What have you found in market research in terms of market size, sales, and growth?

    9. Who is your target audience and why (be specific)?

    10. What are your direct competitors?

    11. What are your indirect competitors?

    12. Before you conduct grocery store research, where do you think your new product be found in the grocery store (what aisle, with what products)?

    Grocery Store & Internet Research

    Once the new product has been discussed with faculty, make a trip to one or two grocery stores to conduct research. In-person research is the best when possible. Online research is also valuable, especially in terms of finding regional products.

    13. First, look in the grocery store location you envision your new product being sold and fill out the table below with the products you find. Be specific – include brands, flavors, sizes of containers, and prices. Taking photos of products can be very helpful.

    Grocery Store: Location in Store:
    Brand Flavor Description Size Price Additional Information
               
               
               
               
               
    Grocery Store: Location in Store:
    Brand Flavor Description Size Price Additional Information
               
               
               
               
               
    Grocery Store: Location in Store:
    Brand Flavor Description Size Price Additional Information
               
               
               
               
               
    Internet Site: Location in Store:
    Brand Flavor Description Size Price Additional Information
               
               
               
               
               
    Internet Site: Location in Store:
    Brand Flavor Description Size Price Additional Information
               
               
               
               
               

    14. Next look in other grocery store areas you think similar products could be found. Add a new location to the table and describe products you find in other pertinent parts of the grocery store.

    15. Search the internet for similar products and add them to the table above. Then answer the following questions.

    16. Did you find your product concept or something similar? If so, describe it and include the location.

    17. After looking at various grocery store locations, does your product placement still make sense? If not, where would the new product placement be? Explain your answer.

    18. Does the product category appear small, crowded, or somewhere in between? Justify your answer.

    19. Does the product category appear inexpensive, varied, or premium? Explain your answer.

    20. What else did you learn while conducting research in the grocery store and on the internet?

    21. How does what you learned from the grocery store research modify your new product concept? Explain your answer in detail.

    This page titled 3.4: New Product Concept Market and Grocery Store Research Worksheet is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kate Gilbert & Ken Prusa (Iowa State University Digital Press) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.