A product is any good, service, or idea that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need. A firm may develop a new product as a way of standing out from its competition, response to customer requests, responding to changing customers taste, as a way of spreading risk, to utilize idle capacity (Machinery and technology), to exploit the untapped market and because it has acquired new technologies and skills.

The quality of the product is one of the major factors that affect its success in a market. The quality of the final product is determined by the quality of raw materials, the technology being used and the technical skill of the workers. Before a product is developed, the most suitable raw material should be identified depending on its availability, its cost, the technology and machinery available, safety and traceability. Secondly, the capital equipment cost and unit production cost should be determined by the company. Third, the firm should find out the timeframe of developing the product and finally, using the information gathered, the firm should determine whether it is better able to develop other products instead. A decision can then be made on if, how, when and where the product will be produced.

However, the reasons why products may fail are high cost of production, lack of skilled employees, product defects, wrong market/wrong timing, ignorance of customer’s taste, preferences and insufficient promotional activities/ marketing efforts.

Product Idea & Concept Generation

Concept is key to the development of a new product, design activity is one that allows the transformation of an invention into innovation. Concept of a product is defined as all the activities and processes that allow transition from the idea of a new product launch information to allow production to ensure its use and maintainability.

Product development stages

Product development can be broadly classified into the 7 stages discussed below.

• Idea generation – ideas for a product can be generated from a variety of sources including Observations i.e. identifying the problem, competitors, market surveys, product development experts/scientists, traditional technologies, employees and even customers.

• Idea screening – brainstorming and functional analysis has proven to be the most capable means to help businesses in screening there ideas. In this stage one can examine his/her industry to see whether there are areas where useful products do not exist and list all ideas for a new product utilizing basic internal and external SWOT (Strength, weakness, opportunity and Threat) analyses, as well as current marketing trends. The purpose of this stage is to collect facts and assess each idea to see if it is viable. To be effective, it is important to set specific criteria for ideas that should be continued or dropped and to stick to the agreed upon criteria so poor projects can be sent back.

• Concept development and testing -In this stage an object concept is chosen from a functional analysis and a study of the technical alternatives available for each function and sub function done.

• Market strategy- You cannot ignore competitors if you want to build a great product. To be competitive, you need to know what products are available on the market and how they perform. That’s why conducting market research is a crucial component of the product design process. Your ultimate goal should be to design a solution that has a competitive advantage. Know your direct and indirect competitors beforehand. It is also important to determine how the product will be distributed, who will distribute the product, who your target market is, how you intend to package the product and how you intend to communicate about the product.

• Business analysis- Business analysis allows you to predict the success or failure of your product based on the collected data. In business analysis you consider production volumes, cost of production (from raw material to final product) and profit projections.

• Product development- The objective of product development is to cultivate, maintain and increase a company’s market share by satisfying a consumer demand. Not all products will appeal to every client base so defining the target market for a product is a critical component that must take place early in the product development process. Develop the new product from the start to finish (From sourcing for raw material to a finished product) It should meet the key product attributes of the products e.g the KEBs standards.

• Test marketing- Testing involves developing additional prototypes for market testing, doing a small product release in select areas, seeing whether the product sells well, and evaluating why sales are high or low, evaluate the price and the effectiveness of the marketing messages and conducting a small launch to determine what needs to be done before an official launch.

• Commercialization- at this stage of commercialization begin production for the first round of the product launch, evaluate how many products to produce based on your market testing and demand for the product and advertise and speak to product distributors about ordering the product, if the product will be sold in stores.

Packaging and labelling

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Products must be packaged well to increase their shelf life especially for food products, improve handling and protection and ultimately improve their marketability. Good packaging serves 2 purposes:

1. Technical – aims to extend the shelf-life of the product by protecting the food from all the hazards it will meet during distribution, storage, and use
2. Presentational – aims at increasing sales by creating a brand name that a buyer instantly recognizes. It also aims to appeal to the buyer in terms of shape, size, colour, convenience, etc

Functions of packaging

Packaging is a means of providing the correct environmental conditions for food during the length of time it is stored and/ or distributed to the consumer. A good package has to perform the following functions:

• It must keep the product clean and provide a barrier against dirt and other contaminants

• It should prevent losses. It’s design should provide protection and convenience in handling, during transport, distribution and marketing. In particular, the size, shape and weight of the packages must be considered.

• It must provide protection to the food against physical and chemical damage (e.g. water and water vapour, oxidation, light) and insects and rodents

• It must provide identification and instructions so that the food is used correctly and have sales appeal