Cadbury in the UK has launched a new product called Cadbury Crunchums – a snack of crispy cereal bites coated in Cadbury chocolate.

Following on from Cadbury Popcorn and Cadbury Pretzels, Cadbury Crunchums are part of a similar breed of quirky snacks from Mondelēz International.

Mondelēz is performing strongly in the chocolate bags category, which is now worth £378.4m and is growing at 16.5% year-on-year. Cadbury brands are 26.7% share of the category and is seeking to improve its performance with the new Crunchums range.

Crunchums will be supported by a £1.3m UK marketing investment in 2013, including outdoor advertising, sampling, PR, social media, digital campaigns and in-store activity.

Available across the UK from June 2013, and the new 105g bag is priced at £2.03 (RRP).

• See also Cadbury creates funfair to promote Marvellous Creations.

Tate & Lyle has acquired Biovelop, a Swedish manufacturer of oat beta glucan.

Operating from a production facility in Kimstad, Sweden, Biovelop produces oat beta glucan under the brand name PromOat for use in the food, beverage and supplement markets, and under the brand name Avenacare for use in the cosmetics industry.

In addition, it produces a range of other oat-based ingredients including PrOATein (oat protein), oat dextrin and insoluble oat fibre. Biovelop's products are manufactured from non-GMO oats sourced from within Sweden using a chemical-free process.

Beta glucan is a soluble fibre which has widely approved health claims, including EFSA, for lowering cholesterol and reducing post-prandial glycaemic response.

Biovelop is a relatively early stage business having been founded in 2005 and made its first sale of commercial product in 2010.

Olivier Rigaud, president, speciality food ingredients for Tate & Lyle, said: "We are delighted to welcome the Biovelop business and its employees to Tate & Lyle. The addition of Biovelop's soluble oat beta glucan, supported by strong scientific health claims, represents an excellent addition to Tate & Lyle's existing fibres and health and wellness portfolios."

• See also David Peters talks about PromOat in Oatworks range.

A selection of images from Vitafoods Europe 2013, which took place at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland. Photos by Claire Phoenix.

If you can't see the gallery below, it means you're not able to view embedded Flash-based Flickr slideshows. Instead, click here to view the gallery.

.

This set of images was created in Flickr. The FoodBev.com Flickr channel showcases some of the most popular events in the food & drink industry calendar, and showcases food and drink products from around the world. If you would like to see more, click here.

See more galleries:

• London Coffee Festival 2013, in pictures
• The 2013 InnoBev Sustainability Awards, in pictures
• Natural & Organic Products Europe 2013, in pictures
• NutraFormulate 2013, in pictures

FoodBev Media's Hannah Oakman visited Italian mains-fed water cooler manufacturer Asset, to view its latest innovations and find out the company's expansion plans in 2013. Photos by Hannah Oakman.

If you can't see the gallery below, it means you're not able to view embedded Flash-based Flickr slideshows. Instead, click here to view the gallery.

.

This set of images was created in Flickr. The FoodBev.com Flickr channel showcases some of the most popular events in the food & drink industry calendar, and showcases food and drink products from around the world. If you would like to see more, click here.

See more galleries:

• London Coffee Festival 2013, in pictures
• The 2013 InnoBev Sustainability Awards, in pictures
• Natural & Organic Products Europe 2013, in pictures

The former MD of Seabrook Crisps has launched his own range of crisps. John Tague, who took Seabrooks from £11m turnover to £30m, has created Tags Tasty Crisps.

So far, the range is made up of 125g Premium Hand Cooked Potato Chips in three flavours: Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt, Sweet Chilli and Mature Cheddar & Red Onion, and 25g Potato Crisps that come in multipacks of six and three flavours: Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & Onion and Ready Salted.

Both RSP at £1.69, though for a limited period they are on offer for £1 in Poundland in the UK.

"We have created a unique new brand to challenge the more established brands in the market," said John Tague. "Our crisps are produced using the finest ingredients to ensure you always experience products that are bursting with great flavour and taste.

"The products we have launched so far are only the start of our journey as a family business. Over the coming months, we intend to introduce further flavours and extend into other snack products."

• See also Which nation eats the most crisps?

Stefano Sala of Italy’s Zuccari has introduced 26 stick pack beverage concepts with a health link ranging from green tea and coffee to pineapple and coconut variants.

• Recorded, produced and hosted by: Claire Phoenix, Ruth McMenamin and Shaun Weston.

.

• Subscribe to our FoodBev.com YouTube channel

More videos …

• Brandon Marz on the Vita Tonics vitamin spray range
• Jim Cregan on new innovations from Jimmy's Iced Coffee
• Julian Hunt on Coca-Cola's approach to obesity and sustainability

According to Canadean research, packaged water volumes in Mexico grew by just 2% last year, only marginally ahead of carbonates and well behind juice-based drinks, iced/RTD tea and coffee drinks, and sports drinks.

Packaged water actually suffered a significant slowdown in its annual rate of development, after volumes rose by over 9% in 2011. However, the institutional sector, which includes schools, maintained a similar level of development in both years. Yet, at just 70 million litres, volumes in Mexico remain tiny in a national market that reaches almost four billion litres.

In comparison, sales of carbonates through institutions did actually fall in 2012, but only by a minute amount. Moreover, although consumption of such drinks is officially discouraged in schools, in reality, the observation of the nutritional guidelines varies by establishment.

Some have adopted and strictly enforced the regulations, while others don't follow them at all. There's also the problem that all manner of food and beverages can be readily bought from stores and unlicensed sellers in close proximity to these institutions.

A related side-effect of the nutritional guideline policy is that there has been a trend in favour of smaller pack types. Increased usage of 20cl and 25cl cartons and glass bottles, for example, significantly exceeded total soft drinks market growth last year as it did for 25cl, 33cl and 50cl PET bottles.

Producers are actively following a strategy of developing smaller packages. Children may still be consuming drinks with high calorie content, but at least consume smaller measures.

Obesity in Mexico

Mexico has a population of 115 million people, with more than a quarter under the age of 15. It also ranks as the country with the highest rate of childhood obesity in the world, and second-highest in adult obesity.

Diabetes is the number one killer, and this chronic health condition is a direct result of the obesity problem. Solving this weight issue is stated as being one of Mexico's top priorities and, as a direct result, the government has introduced new nutritional guidelines.

Preschool and elementary students are now only officially allowed water in school. Older children have access to a wider range of predetermined sweet beverages, but only in small servings.

• See also 'Screen time' is fuelling obesity, says study.

Brandon Marz was at Vitafoods Europe 2013, where he talked to Claire Phoenix about the reformulation of his range of vitamin oral sprays, Marz Sprays, and the European brand Vita Tonics.

• Recorded, produced and hosted by: Ruth McMenamin, Claire Phoenix and Shaun Weston.

.

• Subscribe to our FoodBev.com YouTube channel

More videos …

• Jim Cregan on new innovations from Jimmy's Iced Coffee
• Julian Hunt on Coca-Cola's approach to obesity and sustainability
• Sian Holt talks about the rise of fudge in the confectionery sector

Starbucks Coffee Company has appointed Deverl Maserang as executive vice president leading the company's global supply chain organization.

In this role, he will be accountable for end-to-end supply chain operations globally spanning manufacturing, engineering, procurement, distribution, planning, transportation, inventory management and worldwide sourcing.

Maserang joins Starbucks from Chiquita Brands International. He will report to Troy Alstead, Starbucks chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, and be a part of the company's senior leadership team.

• See also Starbucks launches first community store outside of the US.

Marley's One Drop has been relaunched in Rexam 12oz Sleek cans.

The company hopes this new package will help it further capitalise on the continued growth in the ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee segment.

Originally introduced in 9.5oz glass bottles, Marley Beverages chose to move into the Rexam Sleek can because of its durability, portability and brand differentiation.

"We wanted to showcase the premium look of our Marley's One Drop line and help it stand out on the shelf," said Lee Brody, global marketing director, Marley Beverage Company. "We were able to achieve both in a very powerful way with the Rexam Sleek can."

• See also Marley Coffee secures new listings in Selfridges.

Cofco, the state-owned largest food company in China, has signed an agreement with Danone, pursuant to which the two parties will form a joint venture.

Cofco has agreed to sell 148,014,022 shares in China Mengniu (a Hong-Kong listed company) to the joint venture. Cofco and Danone will own 51% and 49% respectively in the newly formed company.

After the transaction, Cofco will continue to be the single largest shareholder in Mengniu. Danone will become a strategic shareholder in Mengniu, owning an indirect interest of approximately 4% at the initial stage, with an aim to increase the interest in Mengniu based on market conditions in the future.

In addition, Danone and Mengniu have signed a framework agreement to establish a joint venture for the production and sales of chilled yogurt products in China, combining their respective assets in this category for a total 2012 proforma net sales of about €500m, with an estimate market share around 21% and 13 factories across China.

Danone will own 20% and Mengniu 80% of the new joint venture in China. Danone will assign experienced senior executives to join the top management team, assisting Mengniu to further upgrade its management capability.

Danone will invest approximately €325m as a result of the two above cooperation projects. The cooperation will help Mengniu to leverage Danone's leading product innovation and management capability in the fresh dairy category.

These transactions are subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and are expected to be finalised in the coming months.

Source: Danone

• See also China Mengniu Dairy acquires stake in Modern Dairy.

Campbell Soup Company and its Pepperidge Farm division were honoured recently for consumer-driven innovation in product packaging at the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation.

Campbell's Go soups, the company's first soups packaged in flexible, stand-up pouches in the US, received a Silver award for innovative packaging.

The packaging was designed to complement the new soups, featuring greater surface area than traditional soup packages and commanding attention with eye-catching graphics and humour.

Pepperidge Farm's packaging team was honoured for a second consecutive year by the DuPont Awards. This year, the company received a Silver award for adding a Seal Tab re-close feature to its Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals Cracker Chips bag.

Created in collaboration with Sonoco Flexibles, this development was based on consumer insights that pointed to a key need: flexible packages typically lack convenient re-close features.

• See also Campbell Soup wins award for health initiatives.

Waitrose is investing in a multimillion pound programme to offer its customers an enhanced customer experience. The changes will include the introduction of a concierge-style welcome desk in its shops.

Waitrose's successful growth in ecommerce is one of the key reasons for the new concierge-style service, as the new welcome desk will also provide an interface for Waitrose.com customers.

The move comes as Waitrose continues to expand its own Click and Collect service, enabling customers to pick up their online grocery shop in store.

In March, the retailer launched a drive-through collection point in five branches and will trial temperature-controlled self-service lockers for online shoppers at the end of the year. The supermarket already offers a successful service allowing customers to pick up online orders made through John Lewis.

The new welcome desk, which will initially be installed in 100 branches this year before rolling out to all shops in 2014, will be the hub of each supermarket, providing new services such as flower and gift wrapping, and an area for ordering via in-store tablets.

• See also Will the Morrisons-Ocado deal upset Waitrose?

The spirits industry hit a milestone and exceeded 200 million cases in 2012 and is positioned for ongoing growth in 2013.

According to the 2013 SpiritsTAB Report from Technomic, spirits volume increased by 6.3 million 9-litre cases. That 3.2% gain in total volume pushed the industry to a record-breaking 205 million 9-litre cases.

"Despite the moderate pace of the economic recovery, the spirits industry continued to grow in volume and dollars," said Eric Schmidt , director of research at Technomic. "Spirits was actually the fastest-growing segment of adult beverage in 2012, outpacing wine and beer, and we anticipate that trend continuing in 2013."

The top 10 fastest growing brands

Ranked by percentage increase in volume in 20122 vs 2012.

1. RumChata (470% change)
2. Coulsons (172.7%)
3. New Amsterdam (157.1%)
4. Zarco (150%)
5. Exclusiv (138.1%)
6. Bacardi Oakheart (85%)
7. Cupcake (70%)
8. Fireball Cinnamon Whisky (66.7%)
9. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey (66.3%)
10. Ciroc (51.9%).

The 'premiumisation' trend in spirits ramped up in 2012, indicating that consumers explored the spirits categories and indulged in high-quality drinks, even in the slow economy.

The higher price tiers outperformed the lower ones in every spirits category with the exception of blended American whiskey and cordials and liqueurs. The growth of more expensive spirits categories such as single malt Scotch, Cognac, imported vodka and Irish whiskey attest to consumers' willingness to spend more to experience the premium end of the spirits spectrum.

The fastest-growing categories include vodka (5.8%), American straight whiskey (5.2%) and tequila (3.8%). Vodka increased its share to account for a third of total spirits volume and remain the largest category, while the smallest, Irish whiskey, once again posted a double-digit gain (21.6%).

The collective rate of growth for whiskeys accelerated in 2012, driven by American straight whiskey, Irish whiskey and single malt Scotch.

Source: 2013 Technomic SpiritsTAB Report

• See also The top 10 global spirits brands.

Marking its entry into the leisure centre market, Soho Coffee Co has partnered with Circadian Trust to open in Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre in the UK, as part of the centre's refurbishment programme.

The new partnership is part of a continuing programme of improvements by not-for-profit social enterprise Circadian Trust, which runs the Active Leisure Centres in South Gloucestershire.

With outlets across the UK and internationally, Soho will offer its organic and Fairtrade coffees, together with the brand's handmade food range.

Within the new partnership, all the incumbent staff were retained and trained by Soho's own operations team. The 105-cover outlet will service eat-in and takeaway trade for all day-parts.

"As our first leisure-centre-based outlet, this is an exciting new opening for Soho," said Soho Coffee Co director, Penny Manuel. "Our food-led coffee proposition is the right fit for this market. We're not 'mass-market' and our brand has the high-street credibility and quality to build a broad customer base for Circadian Trust."

• See also Soho Coffee Company rolls out kids range.

Mocon, a manufacturer of package integrity instrumentation, has created four global business units to better support its international footprint.

The four business units (and their headquarters) are:

• Permeation (Minneapolis, US)
• Package Testing (Ringsted, Denmark)
• Industrial Analyzers (Lyons, Colorado, US)
• Microbial Detection (Minneapolis, US).

Over the past 15 years, Mocon has acquired multiple companies, including Microanalytics, Baseline, Lippke and more recently PBI-Dansensor.

The company has grown from a manufacturer of permeation equipment for packaging applications into also providing products and services for food safety, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, mud logging, gas monitoring, aroma/odor analysis and more.

"This reorganization has been driven by organic growth, coupled with our recent acquisitions," said Don DeMorett, chief operating officer, Mocon. "By realigning our product portfolio, we will be better able to provide targeted product and service solutions, regardless of where in the world our customers are located. Our goal is to think globally and act locally."

Key product offerings under the Permeation banner include instruments for analysing film structures and packaging for oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour transmission.

Also offered is testing for organic compounds and hazardous material transmission rates, as well as aroma, flavour, off odoor and formulation analysis. In addition to instrumentation, this business unit offers standard and consulting testing services.

Source: Mocon

• See also Mocon creates package testing lab with Inspection Systems.

Sheffield Hallam University is set to benefit from a share of a £50m investment to develop a National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering.

Director of employment and skills at the Food and Drink Federation, Angela Coleshill, said: "We are delighted that Sheffield Hallam University's project to develop a National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering will receive a share of the money offered by HEFCE's (Higher Education Funding Council for England) Catalyst Fund.

"The Centre is a collaborative initiative between the university and the UK food and drink manufacturing industry, and has received a significant number of pledges of support from manufacturers across the country.

"The new Centre will act as a hub for industry R&D, as well as for skills and workforce development, to support sustainable growth in food and drink manufacturing. Its focus on innovation will draw on the university's expertise and proven track record for R&D capability in our sector. It will also expose students on the UK's first food engineering degree (at Sheffield Hallam University) to the latest technological developments, giving them the vital skills our industry needs for the future."

• See also Nestlé and Sheffield Hallam combine for school leavers programme.

Tossed, London's leading group of healthier eating places, has secured a £1.5m funding line from Santander. Tossed operates 11 stores in and around London.

The funding follows the management buyout of Beringea in April 2013 led by Vincent Mckevitt, Tossed's founder and MD, and Neil Sebba, financial director.

The business plans to open at least another eight stores in the coming 12-18 months and is focusing on its London heartland.

Its flagship store reopens at Westfield London this weekend after refurbishing, with a new design and menu.

• See also Banking is not like it used to be.

The GFSI board of directors has announced that the Global Aquaculture Alliance Seafood Processing Standard Issue 2 (August 2012) has been successfully re-benchmarked by GFSI.

It has achieved recognition against the GFSI Guidance Document Sixth Edition. The Global Aquaculture Alliance Seafood Processing Standard has been recognised against the following scope:

EI Processing of Perishable Animal Products.

The GFSI Benchmark Committee was led by Steve Homer, MD, SMH Projects who was joined by Aldin Hilbrands, senior manager product integrity, Ahold and Karen Smedley, food safety and supplier quality manager, The Coca-Cola Company.

Source: GFSI

Wm Morrison Supermarkets has announced a long-term agreement with Ocado Group that will enable Morrisons.com to commence grocery deliveries to customers by January 2014.

The agreement will enable Morrisons to enter the online grocery market quickly with a profitable business model.

The Morrisons.com grocery website will have a clear Morrisons look and feel. Fulfilment will be from Ocado's recently opened Dordon customer fulfilment centre in the Midlands, with customer deliveries through a Morrisons liveried fleet.

The agreement will comprise a technology and services arrangement and a sale and leaseback of property and equipment at Dordon.

Morrisons will make an initial capital payment of up to £170m to Ocado to acquire Dordon and associated mechanical handling equipment, as well as a licence and integration fee. A further £46m will be invested to expand Dordon in order to accommodate Morrisons' range, integrate with Morrisons' systems and establish a network of delivery spokes.

On an annual basis, Morrisons will pay service costs and a contribution to R&D expenditure. The agreement also makes provision for the joint development of new customer fulfilment centres as the parties may determine in future.

Ocado will receive a share of the positive EBIT of Morrisons.com.

Morrisons anticipates that its new food.com business will incur a further £25m development costs in the year, as a result of which, its total full-year new business development investment will be £65m.

It is expected that the food.com business will generate positive Ebitda in 2016/17 and a positive EBIT in 2017/18. Capital expenditure guidance is increased by £100m to £1.2bn to reflect additional investment in its Morrisons.com business. Full-year debt guidance is accordingly increased to £2.7bn.

• See also The impact of e-commerce on retailing.

Melitta Cafe de Europa Gourmet Single Cup Coffee is available in four varieties.

These include: Classique (medium roast), Vienna Roast (dark roast), Blanc et Noir (a blend of light and dark roasts) and Espresso Toscana (extra dark roast).

Available at all major grocery retailers in Northeast US, and other select retailers, in the coming months. A 12-count box will retail for $9.49.

Customised UpShot Solution

Melitta US has also unveiled customised UpShot Solution equipment at its coffee roasting facility in New Jersey, US.

It is now equipped to produce its own Melitta Cafe de Europa Gourmet Single Cup Coffee, as well as provide manufacturing options such as roasting, filling and packaging services to third party brands looking to enter the single-serve market.

Developed by LBP Manufacturing, the UpShot Solution features a 100% recyclable polypropylene, single-serve filter that Melitta will fill with coffee.

The filter is compatible with Keurig and other single-serve brewers, and delivers 'a heightened sensory appeal' to the brewing process. Consumers can see and smell their coffee from the moment they open the outer seal.

The installation of this equipment marks another major update to Melitta's Cherry Hill facility, following a $10m modernisation completed in 2011.

• See also Melitta uses SIG Combibloc packaging system for Wake drinks.

Passers-by who play with Volvic Juiced's new billboard will win prizes – if they touch it in the right places.

Volvic Juiced's new billboard, coming to the UK's Bluewater Shopping Centre on 20 May, encourages shoppers to squash as many falling apples as they can on a giant touchscreen.

Each onscreen crushed apple will fill a virtual bottle of Volvic Juiced, and all players will be rewarded with a bottle of the juicy water drink.

Throughout the two-week period, players will also be selected at random to win summer prizes, including Volvic Juiced Frisbees, Super Soakers and underwater cameras.

Volvic Facebook fans will also be able to win prizes through a new Juiced Burst game designed by We Are Social. Players will have the chance to win a place on the leader board and prizes including a surfing trip and an aqua zorbing session.

The campaign will run alongside a UK-wide tasting tour and the drink's new TV ad, which launched earlier this year.

St James Winery's Mango Fruit Wine is a seasonal selection, so only available for a limited time.

St James Winery is the largest and most awarded winery in Missouri, US.

• See also Global wine consumption growth set to speed up.

PET Engineering has been awarded the Oscar dell'Imballaggio 2013 in the 'Packaging systems and solutions for drinks and liquid food' category for its 5LW lightweight 5-litre bottle.

The award, which comes one month after winning the 'Best lightweighting initiative' category at the InnoBev Sustainability Awards, recognised the ultralight 5-litre container, created to meet the increasing demand of bottling companies to improve their environmental performance in larger containers.

The reduction in raw material, the consequent reduction in buying costs and its resulting positive environmental impact, the use of 50% recycled PET, its good mechanical performances and the high final quality of the bottle are the reasons why the jury chose the 5 LW.

The 60.4g 5LW allows a saving of 17.6g of PET in every bottle, which is almost 22.5% when compared to the other bottles in the market.

This extreme lightweighting has been made possible through an accurate design combination of preform and bottle, which led to a perfect material distribution on the most structural parts of the bottle, avoiding overstretching. The ribs ensure high mechanical performances and at the same time they offer rigidity, avoiding implosion while pouring.

The study of the preform and its streamlining allow the use of resins with lower mechanical performances when compared with standard PET (that is to say, recycled and similar materials). 5LW was blown with 50% recycled PET and supplied by Plastipak. 5LW was created thanks to the collaboration between PET Engineering, Novapet and Side.

Source: PET Engineering

• See also PET Engineering awarded PepsiCo certification.

Hetta Bramley, qualitative director of customer insight agency Engage Research, explains how ethnographic research can take you to the heart, or at least the kitchen, of customer thinking.

Understanding customer behaviour is the greatest currency available to brands. To achieve this, brands are increasingly using ethnographic research techniques to understand more accurately how people are living their lives.

Ethnography involves observing and discussing the ordinary activities of people in their naturally occurring settings, uncovering more insightful information about what people do, rather than what they say they actually do.

This may not sound much, but the impact can be significant. It allows for a more personal and in-depth view of the participants and their behaviour and choices, and will provide valuable insights about how, why and when customers might choose brands or new products and the role that these will play within the consumer's life.

In this sense, ethnographic research can help brands really get under the skins of their customers. This means spending a lot of time hanging out with respondents as they chat, shop and get on with the tasks that make up their everyday lives, so that we can witness their actual behaviours in a natural environment, with nothing artificial or contrived to influence the findings.

Real life packaging

By taking an ethnographic approach, we can observe and monitor anything from food preparation rituals to the food storage habits of Britain's consumers; which products are given priority position at the front of the cupboard and which are pushed to the back, and why; which products only make it as far as the 'back-up' store cupboard.

We look at what we call 'real life packaging' – observing how easy or difficult families find it to manage types of product packaging, which can be used by brands to inform new packaging options. We also monitor eating occasions, frequently filming family eating occasions to look at how, why and when certain foods are included.

If we look at a particular category, for example cereals, we may look at all cereal eating occasions. For this, we would be as interested in the 'misuse' of cereals as we would in conventional breakfast consumption. This would help identify snacking, or use of cereals for lunch or even dinner rather than how one might expect cereals to be consumed.

The Ethnobus methodology

There is a downside. Traditional, pure ethnography is expensive and time-consuming. Because the aim is to capture natural behaviour, the ethnographer must wait until this behaviour occurs, and that can mean a lot of waiting.

The aim of our Ethnobus methodology is to capitalise on this waiting time. While we are waiting for a respondent to interact with one client's category, we can observe what they are doing in another, gradually building up a holistic view of consumers' lives, of value to a diverse range of clients.

For those willing to adopt a pragmatic approach, it's also possible to eliminate much of the wastage by adopting a task-based approach. To do this, we set respondents a number of tasks, each designed to uncover a different aspect of relevant behaviour without revealing the core focus of our interest. We shorten the observation time by asking respondents to do some of the work for us – be that blogging, keeping diaries, sharing photos and video footage online – all of which, thanks to Twitter, fits with their natural behaviour.

There are now many examples of brands taking rich insights obtained through ethnographic research and utilising them for tangible effect.

All sectors can use this form of research effectively, particularly when minute observations and insights can have such an influence. Rather than making marketing or product development decisions based on instinct or a general feeling for the way the market is going, only closer consumer research can provide brands with detailed insights on which to rely.

Hetta Bramley is qualitative director of customer insight agency Engage Research.

• See also Considering cultural differences when marketing your brands.