News: Kantar at Tetra Pak?s Event 2023

Howard Chang, Managing Director for Thailand and Malaysia at the Worldpanel Division of Kantar, the world's leading marketing insights and analytics company, joined the discussion panel on "How Trends & Innovations Shape the Food & Beverages Industry." He participated alongside market experts from Ipsos, Mintel, and NIQ at Tetra Pak's "Innovation Starts Here" event.

Howard stated, "Innovation is one of the key factors that drives more shopper decisions for a brand. In the latest Brand Footprint Report, which analyses 37,000 brands globally with at least 1% penetration, only 48% of them gained more shopper decisions compared to a year ago. Among these growing brands, 88% of them did so by recruiting more shoppers or by attracting them on more occasions."

"When evaluating an innovation or new product launch, in addition to considering its financial performance, we can also measure its success by understanding how many shoppers have tried it and if those who tried it repeat their purchase. We can compare the trial and repeat rates of the innovation with a benchmark based on all the new launches in the same category. Furthermore, if the new product launch is a product extension, such as a new flavour, pack size, variant, or price tier, we can analyse if the cannibalisation with existing products is above or below expectations. The most crucial evaluation is whether the objectives of the innovation have been met."

"There are a couple of key trends to watch out for when it comes to innovation. First, it is important to understand the changing demographics in Thailand. Our society is ageing rapidly, with those aged 60 and above being the largest cluster in terms of population, replacing the younger population aged 19 and below, which had been the largest cluster since 1960. The other change is the decreasing family size. The national average family size has reduced to below 3, with Greater Bangkok having an even lower average of below 2. The ageing society and smaller family sizes have implications for targeting specific demographics and understanding family needs for your innovation. Lastly, the realisation of the THB 10,000 subsidy proposed by the current government represents a key opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers."