How Emmi creates fresh ideas for shop shelves
In our more than 100-year history, innovation has been the strong foundation of our success. With a clear focus on the needs of consumers and the ongoing development of new products and concepts, Emmi manages time and again to hold its own in a highly competitive environment.
Always one step ahead
If you ask consumers in Switzerland, they would probably say that Emmi Caffè Latte is Emmi’s biggest innovation. However, Emmi pursues innovation on an ongoing basis across all brands. It finds its way onto the shelves through new products, new product lines or brands, or through the further development of existing products. This is due to the constantly changing needs and preferences of consumers, new technological opportunities and external requirements, such as in terms of sustainability. Marketing and development are the driving forces behind innovation. However, this can also come to Emmi through the acquisition of highly innovative companies, such as Verde Campo in Brazil with its functional premium milk products made from high-quality protein or Mademoiselle Desserts with their high-quality premium pastry products.
Innovation is versatile, innovation is multifaceted
No innovation, no power. No innovation, no success. At Emmi, innovation is an integral part of our strategy, and one of its core areas relates directly to it: We want to be an innovative pioneer in selected niches. In other words, we want to get even closer to our consumers, identify their needs and address them in the best possible way, and in doing so, set ourselves apart from our competitors.
In particular, we want to create innovations behind discernible consumer trends, defining the most relevant trends for Emmi as our Emmi growth fields. These are 8 selected thematic areas that universally span categories and geographies, and where we see potential for further growth. We place a particular focus on selected niches in which we already have leading market positions or are striving to achieve such positions. We have defined four platforms for this, with ready-to-drink coffee, speciality cheeses, chilled premium desserts and plant-based alternatives to dairy milk.
Fresh ideas for success: Success stories with dairy products
Our unique, nutrient-rich natural product milk pro - vides us with a valuable raw material that we can use to keep pace with the most relevant trends of our time. These include issues such as protein and gut health. Meanwhile, we offer suitable products for consumers who opt for plant-based alternatives to dairy milk for various reasons. We also have our own response to these trends, such as with beleaf, Kaiku Begetal and MyLove-MyLife.
At Emmi, Innovation follows five steps
Step 1: Target definition
With our strategy, we target selected niches, and from there we define our playing fields
Step 2: Scouting and concept development
Trend and product scouting takes place globally at Emmi. International store checks, scouring through trend platforms and online research into new trends give us an overview and inspiration for new concept ideas.
Step 3: Product development
The next step is to analyse opportunities, risks, consumer needs and added value for Emmi. This process takes place before every product development and serves as a decision-making basis for the Innovation Committee to approve the release of resources.
Step 4: Production
Through what is known as the scale-up, we check whether the ingredients and the process will produce the desired product on a large scale. We also check whether the innovation can be produced on existing equipment or whether investment in new equipment is necessary.
Step 5: Strategic marketing
Targeted marketing campaigns are launched for our most important innovations to ensure consumers will discover our products as they hit the shelves.
Want to find out more about our innovative products? Click here and discover an impressive variety!
