Covid-19: influence on product development
An outbreak of a new corona virus, SARS-CoV2, started in December 2019 in the Wuhan region of China. The virus can cause the disease COVID-19. The virus spreads very quickly. In March 2020, lock-down also took place in the Netherlands.
Merel Rijnen, owner of Food Dynamics, was interviewed by Linkedin: how does Covid-19 affect product development?
Introduction
My name is Merel Rijnen, proud owner of Food Dynamics. I graduated in 2003 as a food technologist.
After my graduation I started working in the confectionery industry. In my job as R&D manager, I developed new concepts for products such as chocolate, cereals, biscuits and sweets.
Entrepeneur
But after having worked several years as R&D manager, I changed course and I started as an entrepreneur with Food Dynamics.
The first products were developed in my attic room, but that soon turned out to be too small. Food Dynamics moved to the industrial area in Dongen. The innovation lab for manufacturers and food professionals is now located here.
Food Dynamics focuses on 3 pillars:
1 Product development for manufacturers in the food industry.
2 Training courses for food professionals.
3 Sustainable production for the food sector.
Product development
Product development from A to Z, in the broadest sense of the word:
- Development of new concepts & recipes;
- raw material research;
- calculations of nutritional values;
- reformulation of recipes; and,
- improvement of production processes.
Training courses
The training courses are designed for food professionals who want to gain new knowledge or inspiration or want to learn a new technique. The training courses are practical sessions in which the technology, also known as the invisible layers, is discussed.
Training courses like:
- Panning (coating technique with chocolate);
- optimization of the R&D process;
- confectionery such as nougat, fudge, caramel; and
- granola and bars.
Sustainability
Food Dynamics contributes to sustainability. Together with manufacturers we work on preventing food waste and on practical solutions to add value to product loss.
An example is the reprocessing of broken cookies. Product that is not accepted in retail, but be a very nice crumble for the ice cream industry.
Or skewed baked rolls which are reprocessed into seasoned breadcrumbs
Covid-19 and the food industry
What are the consequences? The the industry deals with is differently:
1. There are manufacturers who have the priority to continue production. Where also marketing, R&D and other office personnel are deployed in production. Just to make sure the products arrive in stores on time. There is no time for product development or innovation at this stage.
2. Though there a manufacturers, that do have time. And use this time to finally develop product ideas that they already had for some time.
Covid-19 and Food Dynamics
Factories close the doors for external visitors. Which means I cannot make any visits. Though fortunately, customer contact can be maintained by using Zoom, Teams and FaceTime.
Food Dynamics already works on projects remotely in her innovation lab in Dongen. But I notice that R&D and innovation have less priority, at this time. Many projects are put on hold. Also due to the fact that exhibitions such as the PLMA are unfortunately postponed.
No downtime!
It is a quite time in product development, because customers have projects on a back burner during this Covid-19 period. Which gives Food Dynamics the chance for reflection. I am busy setting up new training courses and professionalizing the website. Finally my Wall of Fame is finished! So when you visit Food Dynamics you can immediately see the products that I have proudly worked on.
Tips for entrepreneurs in this bizarre time
Stay focussed on product development and innovate with new concepts! Then you will be able to enter the market with successful new introductions when the Covid-19 does not influence our daily lives anymore.
Use you creativity by using your own pots and pans, to test new recipes on a small scale.
As far as I am concerned, Covid-19 is the right time to work out ideas and to show how entrepreneurial you are!
