What the judges are looking for in the World Food Innovation Awards – part 2

This is accelerating climate change and exacerbating the effects. Forests also prevent soil from drying out, and collect and return water vapour to the atmosphere. The land where trees once stood can quickly become infertile deserts. Forest ecosystems are crucial to the health of our planet. 

I’d love to see companies helping to address some of these problems and build thriving, sustainable farming communities. I’m also interested in whether entrants use efficient manufacturing processes and technologies that save energy, water and other resources when making their products. And I’ll be looking for innovative packaging designs that promote brand values, protect products and reduce food waste, while minimising material use.

We only have one planet and we’re living well beyond its means. In 2016, 8 August was the estimated date when we began to use more natural resources than the planet can renew in a year. The sustainable sourcing, manufacture and packaging of our food are essential for communities and nature to remain in balance, so future generations can thrive on our planet.

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Andrew Kuiler
The Silk Initiative (TSI) managing director and founder

Read Andrew’s full profile

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Here are the real practicalities I look at when determining how innovative a product really is:

People – there is a big difference between innovating a product that is on trend, and one that is merely latching on to a passing fad. Truly innovative products are grounded in insight, and have a real, deep-rooted consumer need behind them, as well as being on trend. Beyond this, a lot of our work is designed to identify consumer enemies. These hold the triggers that motivate consumers to buy and inspire repeat purchases, rather than just trying something for fun.

Key criteria: how relevant is your innovation to consumers?

Places – how products show up in the market is a key aspect of how innovative it truly is. Breakthrough innovations understand the category they are playing in, and offer new news in the way of ingredients, packaging format, or perhaps product profile to really stand out. Channel is also essential. Our China work – with a booming, fiercely competitive and fast paced e-commerce market – has taught us how to really punch through. That’s why many of our clients build an offline presence in convenience stores first, before moving online for scale.

Key criteria: is your innovation showing up in the right place at the right time?

Protection – the best innovations are those that can protect themselves for an extended period of time – when there’s something ‘ownable’ about the innovation that can’t be copied by a competitor (something we see very often in the China market). The strongest innovations build a story around a particular brand asset, such as an ingredient, a certain technology, or a place. This maintains the product innovations’ positioning as a leader.

That’s why I look for proof points that a brand owner has considered ownable brand and product assets to build a story around, and hasn’t just produced a bright idea for the sake of a bright idea.

Key criteria: what product or brand assets are actually protectable and ownable?

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Hadar Sutovsky
Earthbound vice president of technologies and new ventures

Read Hadar’s full profile

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What am I looking for in the World Food Innovation Awards? I’m looking for:

• Natural ingredients – I want natural, sustainable, and traceable, cost-effective ingredient alternatives. A key consumer requirement is that food is ‘natural’. Consumers expect food manufacturers to only use natural ingredients that they know, and want to know where the ingredients come from and how they have been prepared
• Natural structurants – clean-label, natural-perceived technologies for water-structuring in foods such as low-oil mayonnaises, ketchup, soups, sauces, bouillons and seasonings, and low-fat spreads
• Superior taste and flavour – fundamental understanding of basic taste resulting in low-sodium, low-sugar products, natural taste and flavour generation, processes to preserve taste
• Processing technologies – novel, mild and more natural, I am looking for process technologies that increase the naturalness of the product
• Food ingredients with appropriate functionality – natural and sustainable ingredients, improvements in functionality, by-products that add value (because this is linked to costs, and improves sustainability and impact), and all the better if all ingredients are non-GMO
• Plant sources – finding plant-based alternatives to animal-based raw materials for security and sustainability. Ideal solutions would be considered by consumers as clean-label and would enable food companies to make natural claims. Examples include, but are not limited to, structurants, dairy alternatives, functional emulsifiers for oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, pea proteins, algal proteins and so on
• Micronutrient fortification – improved micronutrient stability, improved micronutrient bioavailability
• Next-generation intelligent packaging – Internet of Things (IoT) is being brought into consumers’ homes, especially kitchens as there is increasing consumer interactivity between appliances, smartphones, products and the retail environment. I am interested to review and understand what enabling next-generation technology/service relationships means and how it needs to develop in order to make foods products and point of sale interactive
• Smart kitchen – connected accessories and appliances up for grabs that range from smart stoves to forks and plates that help you manage portion control 
• Shelf-life solutions and preservation – natural preservatives, high throughput screening assays, rapid identification of contaminants, functional packaging in addition to product package as a secondary function, and diagnostics accessories for packaging (examining the level of cleanliness, hygiene, and different sensors)

All entries and applicants should be aligned with the focus areas, product should be unique, patentable, and profitable, approaching an attractive market. The team’s skills and capabilities are most importnt and a product’s long-term competitiveness as well. 

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Set that trend

Have you launched a new product? Then the World Food Innovation Awards are for you! We regularly come across new products and trends, providing them with the platform to get the exposure they deserve. Showcase your latest innovations and set that trend! Find out how to enter here.

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