SIAL presented the findings of their first 'Innovation Barometer' study at the ADICT innovation conference organised by SIAL in Paris on last Tuesday.  Here are some  majorn findings:

  • More than 55% of the 355 global food and beverage firms surveyed for SIAL's first 'Barometer Innovation' study point cash as the number one barrier to innovation. 

  • Sial report also says "98% of food and beverage firms believe a company is more successful when it innovates," and 94% of companies questioned say that it is the rfight moment for innovating.
  • Innovation is more accessible for some than others. Since the economic downturn, private label has emerged as a major innovative player competing with the brands. In France, for example, while private label injected about 8 per cent of new products onto the marketplace in France several years ago, today this figure stands at 23 per cent
  • While cash is the key concern for food firms looking to invest in innovation, lack of appropiate people on the ground rates as the second biggest challenge for businesses in Sial's survey. According to the Barometer data, 36% of respondents cited a shortage of human resources as putting a break on innovation.
  • In third place are technical and technological difficulties, that challenge innovation for 35% of decision-makers questioned in the survey.
  • They found that a considerable 83% of innovations in 2009 were launched onto the international market. Further, in the coming year, 67% of respondents intend to launch their innovations onto the international market. According to the SIAL data, 30% of the annual turnover for the food and drink firms questioned currently derived from exports.
  • In terms of partnerships in innovation, 31 % see between other food makers are the most efficient. 21% consider retail partnerships and finally, for 20% of the survey respondents, link-ups between universities and research institutes

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