Mars Rings Innovation “magic Triangle” – R&d Vp Karina Zimerfeld On Quest For Brand Loyalty

Karina Zimerfeld, nan world vice president of R&D for Mars’ nutrient and nutrition business. Credit: Mars

Mars’ latest invention successful nutrient features a scope of fresh meals centred connected convenience for nan engaged user looking for a speedy and easy in-home solution, while besides aspiring to cater to much exotic tastes.

Health has been a consideration, too, down a caller ‘street food’ line-up nether nan bequest Ben’s Original marque – Jamaican naughty beans and rice; gumbo chicken; and teriyaki atom pinch chicken; for example.

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And Mars is seeking to return its Dolmio Italian sauces into caller areas inspired by Mediterranean classical dishes, pinch ambient meals specified arsenic spicy chorizo fusilli and prosciutto tortellini.

As invention becomes progressively important for nutrient manufacturers successful nan caller era of mislaid volumes owed to inflation-linked pricing, Just Food’s Simon Harvey chats pinch Karina Zimerfeld, nan world vice president of R&D for Mars’ nutrient and nutrition business.

Simon Harvey (SH): What does your domiciled successful R&D entail?

Karina Zimerfeld (KZ): I look into what our consumers want successful meals and cooking ingredients and past I make judge we create magic done our products and packaging and processes. Then ensuring that we tin really nutrient that pinch nan correct quality.

SH: With nan statement astir ultra-processed foods and nan emergence of MAHA successful nan US, what is nan biggest rumor connected Mars’ sheet astatine nan infinitesimal erstwhile it comes to invention and addressing user needs?

KZ: Consumers are asking for aggregate different things, what I would opportunity nan magic triangle – products that are tasty, convenient and healthy.

If you are capable to reside each of those needs and wants from a user standpoint and do that successful a measurement that doesn’t harm our satellite aliases protects our satellite and supports our farmers, you will person an opportunity to not only do nan correct point for consumers but besides to turn successful nan industry.

SH: Is Mars aggressively going aft nan user that wants functionality, foods that bring a use to them?

KZ: We’re seeing consumers are presently overmuch much willing successful experimenting. Our volition is to cater to consumers who are alert of nan request for products that are bully for them and nutritious, that will thief them to thrive, unrecorded a long, patient life but not needfully specifically looking to 1 area of benefit. Catering to nan wide user cohort.

Logically, location are areas, namely, macromolecule and fibre, that we cognize are very applicable to consumers and truthful areas we are besides very willing in. Using nutrient ingredients that are wholesome and healthy, for illustration full grains, vegetables and legumes, and past taking our culinary expertise pinch our chefs to creation a operation of ingredients successful a repast that tastes amazing. Millennials and Gen Z are overmuch much unfastened to exploring; 66% of that organization is now willing successful spicy foods.

The cardinal markets astir nan world for Mars’ nutrient and nutrition conception are successful nan UK and Europe, North America and Australia, wherever we person unthinkable products down our core.

We’re bringing invention down brands specified arsenic Ben’s Original, Seeds of Change, Dolmio and, if you spell to Australia, MasterFoods. Side dishes aliases meals aliases repast components aliases ingredients that are helping consumers to create great, delicious dishes.

SH: There’s often disapproval lodged astatine ‘Big Food’ of sideways aliases bolt-on invention astir bequest brands, brands that don’t ever resonate pinch Gen Z. Is it a lawsuit that companies for illustration Mars request to beryllium much adventurous and travel retired pinch ground-breaking invention pinch caller brands?

KZ: We’ve been very fortunate pinch nan brands that we have. We’ve recently acquired Kevin’s Natural Foods successful nan US, which astir apt fits into nan younger procreation cohort that’s willing successful eating healthy, delicious food.

We perfectly are leveraging our existing brands because they are very strong

Even pinch our bequest brands that we’ve had for decades – Ben’s Original, Seeds of Change, Dolmio – I deliberation we’ve been very lucky. What we spot is, arsenic we innovate, beryllium it wrong nan spaces we person already specified arsenic pasta sauces pinch oatmeal, broadside dishes pinch beans, aliases entering caller adjacencies pinch fresh meals, we’ve been very fortunate that our brands really resonate pinch our consumers.

It’s fertile ungraded because it gives maine nan opportunity to innovate without having to hold for america to invent thing wholly caller arsenic a caller brand. We perfectly are leveraging our existing brands because they are very strong. They person a batch of equity pinch our consumers of each ages.

Innovating successful caller spaces is recognising that nan user does evolve. New generations travel in, they are willing successful caller things.

Hence nan Ben’s Original street-food products we person conscionable launched successful nan UK. They are tasty, convenient and nutritious. We’re seeing a batch of traction down those innovations because they person been capable to really reside and tackle each of those needs simultaneously.

Credit: Mars

SH: Is Mars much inclined to adhd ground-breaking invention done M&A pinch caller brands alternatively than in-house merchandise development?

KZ: I can’t remark connected early acquisitions but what I would opportunity is, if you look astatine wherever we are and really we’ve been evolving pinch our portfolio, innovating wrong our brands is highly important.

If practice brands person been coming successful nan life of nan consumer, to not continuously activity to understand wherever consumers are and wherever they are heading you will struggle to proceed to exist. What are nan symptom points? What do they need? What do they want? And to effort and foretell what products they mightiness request successful nan future.

SH: How is Mars employing AI tech to do that and place existing trends and imaginable caller introduction points?

KZ: AI is highly powerful to thief america to get those insights to understand and to publication trends. What are nan sensation flavour trends that are coming up? Often, for example, things that are trending successful restaurants will past trim crossed into nan manufacture successful possibly 1 aliases 2 years.

What are consumers looking for erstwhile they are searching for recipes, which flavours are they looking for, which combinations and really tin I foretell done AI tools, what they will request adjacent based connected patterns that we see?

Street food, for example. I could walk ages creating dishes to put successful beforehand of consumers truthful they could appraise nan dishes. But I could besides leverage AI. What is nan opposition betwixt vegetables and pasta and noodles that they are expecting? If I’m leveraging AI, I tin do that overmuch much efficiently and effectively.

SH: If everybody is employing AI and getting nan aforesaid results, really does Mars enactment up of nan competition?

KZ: We cognize successful generative AI, nan punctual you put successful defines nan result you have, successful general. In AI, successful immoderate exertion that you’re leveraging, it is astir really nan brains that are down that assets are feeding it successful bid to utilise it successful nan champion way. So, continuing to nurture capabilities and knowledge and insights wrong nan institution is going to beryllium a captious occurrence facet for you to leverage those resources successful nan due way.

AI doesn’t destruct nan request for america to proceed to activity connected subject and technology, user insights and culinary expertise

You mightiness beryllium capable to publication nan request but you still will request a batch of expertise to beryllium capable to create nan products successful nan correct way. AI doesn’t destruct nan request for america to proceed to activity connected subject and technology, user insights and culinary expertise.

SH: I tin understand thoroughfare foods mightiness beryllium a celebrated invention but pasta and condiment is simply a alternatively crowded aisle pinch tons of choice, truthful what’s Mars’ reasoning down nan caller Dolmio range?

KZ: It’s absorbing because you mightiness observe nan support of herb sauces and deliberation consumers person had capable but we person observed that consumers return pasta condiment and they tweak it. So, it’s knowing user behaviour to spot what they want erstwhile they are experimenting pinch caller flavours.

We spot fresh meals arsenic an area that gets a batch of user interest. Street nutrient meets that saccharine spot of user needs that person not been decently tackled – either they were ace tasty and indulgent but grounded to present nan patient facet of it, aliases they were absorbing but they were still cumbersome to prepare.

Delivering fresh meals done immoderate of our brands, including Dolmio pasta sauce, is creating an opportunity for consumers to yet person each of those needs addressed astatine nan aforesaid time.

We show group they request to eat divers diets that incorporate fibre and macromolecule but we thin to hide nan clip it takes to prepare. If we tin offer, say, an Asian noodles action that is tasty, accessible and healthy, I americium solving a large tension, a large symptom constituent for consumers. I do deliberation that is an area that will proceed to beryllium explored successful nan future.