Food Entrepreneur - October 12, 2021 - 14

candy, opening a world of possibilities
for product development.
" It always starts with a consumer
problem we're trying to solve or an opportunity
we're going after, and we rapidly
prototype against that packaging, product,
brand, name, stories, personalities, until
we get something that's really resonating
with that design consumer we had in
mind, " Ms. Borisjuk said.
During a period of transactional
learning, typically over the course of a few
months, the team tracks key performance
indicators on a weekly basis. From there,
a product may either expand to dozens
more stores, or an idea is refined and
tested again. If a product performs poorly
in a market test, the team moves on to the
next idea.
" I've been working in innovation for a
long time, " Mr. Horsky said. " If there's no
failure in innovation, it means you're not
pushing hard enough. It will happen, and
we're not scared of it. "
Another SnackFutures brand, CaPao,
has evolved since its conception several
years ago, though the star ingredient has
remained the same. CaPao Cacaofruit
Bites are formulated with parts of the
cacaofruit that traditionally are discarded
The SnackFutures team at Mondelez has
identified opportunities across key areas
ranging from functional foods to school
snacks.
and the right occasion for consumers
to find it and know how to use it, " said
Shannon Neumann, associate director of
SnackFutures innovation.
Nearly all SnackFutures team members
previously held roles in innovation,
marketing or brand management at
Mondelez International, supporting global
businesses such as Oreo and Cadbury.
" When you're creating innovation
off of an iconic brand like Trident, there's
a lot of stakeholders, a lot of expectation, "
Ms. Neumann said. " There's a
larger investment in place. There's the
idea of making sure it's ready to go, that
it's perfect as it can be.
" When you take that step back and
MONDELEZ
after cocoa beans are extracted for
chocolate production. The team tested
multiple formats prior to landing on the
current offering, combining the cacaofruit
with additional fruits, nuts and seeds.
The products are available online and
in a limited number of stores in the Los
Angeles area.
" It's taken some trial and error to
make sure we're finding the right place
are creating innovation within SnackFutures,
it's almost the opposite. It's progress
over perfection. "
Mr. Horsky described SnackFutures
as " a new muscle " the company is building
that is enabling faster innovation to meet
rapidly evolving consumer needs.
" Of course, we're still learning, and
there will be mistakes and failures and
improvements over time, " he said. " But
I think it's becoming a very interesting
capability that we're building within the
company. " ▪
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October 12, 2021
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Food Entrepreneur - October 12, 2021

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