Food Industry Research and Development

Abstract

The basic aim of food industry research and development (R&D) is to create new products and launch them successfully on the market. Some specific aims of strategic R&D are to: reduce costs which lowers product prices; enhance sensory properties that make food more attractive; improve nutritional value to provide for dietary needs; improve food safety; add convenience; and offer greater choices of food items to consumers. These benefits come either from constant gradual product improvement or a significant product step change. The latter usually comes from new technology—crop, ingredient, process, storage—but it can also come from a new understanding of consumer needs.