What are the best practices for food product development and formulation?

-Appropriate feasibility studies should be carried out to identify if there is a gap that the product will fill or if there will be a market for it -The entire process should be data-driven, and all quality/safety parameters should be established, tested, analyzed, and optimized. -The product characteristics should be evaluated through sensory studies to determine/predict consumer acceptance and areas of improvement.

Understand the manufacturing process from start to finish. Designing a product that requires processing not aligned with current practices is guaranteed to bring additional challenges. Understanding which ingredients align with the manufacturing process will help streamline the development process immensely

I would consider some analysis around how and where the food product is to be consumed. This would inform what a customer would do to order, receive, and consume - which could be a combination of different elements of the Order-to-Consume path. For example, the food product may be ordered online, delivered to the home, but consumed on the go. This will inform how fresh the product needs to be (if relevant) and how robust the packaging needs to be.

Ideation is a valuable tool for thinking around problems that may not be obvious. The development of the product may also include supply chain issues such as bulk packaging and distribution. This may also inform storage (cold or room temperature) and shelf live considerations.

Having a pre-aligned project design brief always helps in removing any assumptions and miscommunications. Some of the most critical information you'll need in every product design project are: Understand your cost standards and targets, claims desired, gold standard to target and design to manufacture (does it meet manufacturing capabilities including allergens, processing, etc).

Follow the defined stage gate Model for NPD and Design of Experiment- statistical model for Product formulation, trial and error and standardisation. Checks and balances for each stage gate will allow to know the errors and mistakes and improvisations.

I would also include some sustainability elements, such as the materials that become packaging. This in turn would inform how the product is presented in terms of printing features and nutrition facts. How robust is a bamboo plate if it is shredded by a steel knife? Will a product sweat if wrapped in eco-plastic netting? Is the product in the crosshairs of current debates and analyses of micro-plastics? How would the packaging be disposed of?

Without extending the budget too much, it would be valuable to test the entire supply chain (if possible). Especially if the product in question requires a standard of freshness as its value proposition. Additional data such as the nutritional value can then be applied to the packaging, with further branding in the form of a QR code. From the market research, details such as allergy vectors and physiological reactions to flavour compounds will be valuable. Are there factors such as time, place, weather conditions, temperature of the served product that may alter safety information or be unfavourable to the social media critic? How would a product recall be managed? This should be on every product management plan.

Depending on the target market, it may be desirable to promote the product in multiple languages with an aligned media campaign. Is the creation/processing capable of managing consumer interest at scale? What is the social media feedback telling you?

Another perspective that is often missed is that it is important even at the research scale to make sure that the development of the product is scalable. What use would it be to develop something that has all the desired characteristics if it cannot be commercially produced? Even a simple check to ensure that the raw material is available at scales that will be potentially needed is hugely important.

Don't forget to review your materials specifications BEFORE you test them to ensure they meet your target market's expectations. It will help you to save time when it come to sourcing the right ingredients.