Health-enhancing products in the Italian food industry: Multinationals and SMEs competing on yogurt

Purpose – The food industry is a mature, lucrative and research oriented industry where product differentiation is the key to success. The purpose of this research is to present a detailed analytical (qualitative) study of the new “health-enhancing” products in the Italian marketplace with a focus on both multinational corporations as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Approach – The analysis is based on a New Products Development framework (NPD) which is operationalized isolating from literature four key strategic elements and other support variables. In particular, firm’s strategies will be explained addressing the differences between the so called “close” and “open” innovation models. The theoretical framework is next matched with seven health-food categories and seven yogurts marketed by international corporations as well as local SMEs on the Italian marketplace. Findings – Each of the competitors tends to present its offer as unique and strongly differentiated. They each try to formulate new product claims and to enlarge the boundaries of the competition targeting expressed and unexpressed consumers’ needs. Practical implications – The product development trend highlights how the innovations may move towards ventures between drugs companies and cosmetic companies as companies look for new ways to be perceived as different. Originality/value – The research provides an in-depth analyses of the emerging strategies in the food industry using the NPD theories and referring to a national contest (Italy) where the attention to the food quality is worldwide well-known and the appeal of the so-called “functional food” seems to be mild and low-investigated.