If innovation is the lifeblood of business, then General Mills will be pumping hard in the new year. The CPG giant released news about more than 100 new products that it will launch in its U.S. retail portfolio alone during its fiscal 2013.
General Mills would like to generate between 4 percent and 5 percent of its sales from new products "and we think we will be very much in that range," CEO Ken Powell told Wall Street analysts during a conference call this week, according to Ad Age. "We want to make sure that we are launching products that are bringing new consumers into [their brand] franchise, and we have steadily improved that number."
The new products range from new varieties of Fiber One products to a Snickerdoodles flavor of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies. And if there are some underlying themes to the whole list, they would be peanut butter and chocolate, along with fiber and protein, according to a General Mills blog postdetailing the roster of new products.
"Better-for-you snacking" also is strongly represented. "General Mills continues to see growth opportunities" in that category, the blog post said. "More and more people now think of snacks as a way to regulate energy levels and seek specific ingredients such as fiber, protein and whole grains."
In fact, three of the most interesting new entrants fall squarely into the better-for-you category. They are Fiber One Protein bars, Green Giant Veggie Chips, and Yoplait Pro-Force yogurt.
Fiber One has had a bar lineup, of course, but not one that is stuffed with the 6 to 7 grams of protein in one of these Protein Bars, addressing growing consumer demand for protein content in more things that they regularly consume. Fiber One Protein Bars also contain 20 percent of the recommended daily consumption of fiber.
Green Giant veggie chips will come in sweet potato multigrain flavor with sea salt and roasted veggie tortilla with a "zesty cheddar flavor." They represent General Mills' first incursion into the promising but dicey category of vegetable-based snack chips, where Frito-Lay accomplished far less than hoped with its Flat Earth variety. At least the new products give still more reanimation to the Green Giant mascot, who appears prominently on the bags.
Also, General Mills' new products include some aggressive attempts to reinvigorate its flagging Yoplait yogurt franchise, which has been suffering more than competitors at the hands of the Greek-style craze. Yoplait Pro-Force is billed as having "two times the protein of the leading kids yogurt," and there is new GoGurt Twisted, a two-color version of the tubed yogurt aimed at tweens.
So get snacking, America! There's a lot more to munch your way through.
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