We accelerate food innovation, support client growth, and solve technical challenges.
Follow the Journey of a Developing Food Product
Many of our clients were new to the food industry when they reached out to us. We guide new clients through the commercialization process, from research and development, to setting up production and supply chains, to scaling brands and troubleshooting as they grow.
Catapult helps at any or all stages in the commercialization process:
Design Your Product to Sell
-
No product can exist in a vacuum and must exist alongside its competition. Understanding the market and category for a particular product is key to identifying and highlighting its points of competitive differentiation.
-
Preferences of target consumers define the attributes of the product that they care about and increase selection from the shelf. Knowing which shelf in which marketplace to put the product on ensures that the target consumer finds it.
-
By synthesizing the market analysis and the consumer insights, the available white space for the product becomes easier to spot. Strategically targeting a specific white space to define product characteristics optimizes the marketability of the products.
Build Your Product to Scale
-
Ingredients from approved suppliers come together to manifest the product in a scalable form. This product meets all the sensory, nutritional, cost, and claim requirements to appeal to the consumers in the white space opportunity.
-
Food changes when it is processed due to the types of forces it is subjected to during manufacturing. By planning ahead to what those processes are, speed to market and product quality are preserved through scale up.
-
Structurally, packaging protects the product from oxygen, moisture, pathogens, and light while keeping the product from getting crushed. Graphics on the packaging appeals to the consumer while conveying legal selling points about the product.
Bring Your Product to Market
-
Brands are often faced with choosing between self manufacture, which is capital intensive and only economical at significant volumes, and contract manufacturing, which is challenging to enter at low volumes. The right choice is different for every brand.
-
Production drives inventory availability, but supply chain includes both upstream and downstream systems. Establishing the traceability and documentation for each input ensures that the resulting product meets requirements.
-
Delivering the product to customers efficiently requires optimization of inventory locations and shipping logistics to fulfill orders. Sales efforts dictate the selection of warehousing geographies based on cost modeling and velocities.
Grow Your Business to Profitability
-
Based on momentum at launch, most brands eventually look to reduce costs while building volume. Models break down the input costs of the goods being sold, which is instrumental for directing efforts to reduce total cost.
-
Normal business activities, such as order processing, take time away from contributing to the growth of the business. By optimizing internal process flow for what is needed at different stages of growth, existing talent is freed up for strategic growth.
-
The cycle of building and rebuilding business systems encourages growth by giving more visibility and control over a brand with less active engagement per transaction. Appropriately sized systems allow focus to remain on delighting consumers.