CPG Innovation in the News: Tyson, Cheese-It, Mich Ultra

Mich Ultra Infusions CPG Innovation

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The latest in CPG innovation from around the industry…

Tyson Any’tizers Chicken Chips

Tyson’s latest line extension launched in late July. The new chicken chips are the latest snack to deliver the satisfying taste of chicken strips with the crunch of a chip.

Tyson’s latest innovation is a good example of extending traditional meal items into snackable formats, as meal times and habits shift in busy consumers’ lives.

Kids, teens, and even adults love to reach for snacks like this. However, one drawback to the new innovation is that consumers must purchase it in the frozen food section and reheat it. This is a significant hurdle if the goal is to make Any’tizers more likely to be eaten as a quick snack, similar to chips.

Tyson Any'tizers CPG InnovationThe vast majority of Americans snack multiple times a day, and eight percent of those who snack forego meals all together. read more at prnewswire.com

Red Wine and Cheez-Its in the Same Box

After gaining insight via social media that consumers were often pairing wine with Cheez-Its, the team at Kellogg decided to introduce a limited-time offering of the same.

This is an example of CPG innovation aligning with consumers’ existing substitution behavior, extending the brand to new occasions. The strategy effectively takes a snacking product often found in kids’ lunches and parents’ office desks, and encourages people to eat them during social and pre-meal occasions.

Cheez-Its CPG InnovationThe efforts have helped revitalize the brand, the company said during a presentation earlier this year. Cheez-It sales grew over 12% in the United States in the first quarter. read more at philadelphia.cbslocal.com

Michelob Ultra Infusions

The team at Anheuser-Busch launched the Infusions line of fruit-infused beer. The first two flavors available are Lime & Prickly Pear Cactus, and Pomegranate & Agave.

The Infusions innovation capitalizes on at least three important trends.

  1. The shift towards more premium beers, including the ever-increasing number of specialty, local and micro brews
  2. The increase in consumer desire for flavored beers and flavored-beer alternatives
  3. The larger health consciousness trend and consumer desire for fitness lifestyle, benefiting Mich Ultra in general

Mich Ultra Infusions CPG InnovationUltra is the rare domestic label actually gaining in popularity. Beer Marketer’s Insights recently predicted that Michelob Ultra will pass Budweiser as the fourth most popular beer in the U.S. read more at mediapost.com

The above recent examples of CPG innovation caught my attention and hopefully spark a few new ideas for you.

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Images from prnewswire.com, philadelphia.cbslocal.com, mediapost.com.