New Product Development - an overview, live online tutor-led training course (Two mornings)

Product development has been described as the life blood of the food industry and is an essential activity for all food companies wanting to maintain or increase their market share. The product development process is time consuming and costly and many new products fail either to make it onto the market or only last for a few weeks.

This course aims to provide product developers with the tools they need to innovate new ideas, screen product concepts and manage the development process thereby improving the likelihood of success. With an introduction to the product development process, from concept ideas through to scale up and shelf life trials, it is suitable for those relatively new to a product development role, or in another technical or marketing role requiring an understanding of the development process for a new food or drink product.

The course will be delivered live online over the course of two mornings (0900 - 1300 hours approx), participants will be sent log in details for a Microsoft Teams session.

This course can be customised for bespoke training to suit different food sectors such as beverages, bakery, chilled, frozen or heat preserved foods.

Day 1 - morning session

• Understanding of the need for NPD within food companies and it’s implementation
• Overview of current food and trends
• How to generate new product ideas including interactive exercise
• Stages in taking product ideas to final products
• Understanding of food legislation relevant to new food products

Day 2 - morning session

• The use of sensory and consumer testing in the NPD process
• Costing a new product and use of computer software
• Understanding what limits shelf life and how to test and maximise it
• Scaling up product from the kitchen to the factory
• Desk based group development exercise

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course delegates will be able to:-

• Understand the different stages in the development of a new product and use of staged or gated approach.
• Appreciate the importance of new product development to a company
• Be able to organise or contribute to an idea generation session
• Be aware of the food legislation relating to product composition and nutrition and health claims for new products.
• Be able to list factors which limit shelf life and suggest formulation, processing or packaging approaches that could extend it.
• Understand the issues involved in scaling up from kitchen to pilot plant and on to full production.
• Apply the theory and technical skills learnt on the course in their own development role.