This Time It's Personal

Undoubtedly, you will have seen Coca-Cola cans and bottles everywhere, with first names imprinted on the side. And maybe you even have one with your name on it. These cans and bottles are all examples of a new trend we see occurring in food and beverages: Companies are trying to connect with consumers more than ever before. And personalisation is a new key area of focus.

photo of personalised coffee

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak at the Open Innovation Forum Food & FMCG run by Cambridge University. The forum provides companies in the F&A value chain (including packaging) a chance to exchange views and insights on innovation trends in products, production and the supply chain. 

In food, we see a lot of change. On the one hand, the consumer is more dynamic than ever before. On the other hand, new technologies are disrupting the market. It’s not easy for companies in the chain to address all of these challenges. In most cases, though, they are at least aware of them, and they are actively looking for products or solutions to address these challenges.

A central theme at the event was personalisation, which is seen as one solution to deal with the above challenges. The Coke cans and bottles are examples of this trend, but there’s more to come: Personalisation can happen at many points in the interaction between food companies and consumers. 

Working backwards from the end of the value chain, we encountered the following examples:

  • Personalised nutrition: We wrote about this before in our report “What is Cooking in Tomorrow’s Kitchen?”. There is a strong movement to try and offer the consumer personal food solutions that would benefit their health.
  • Custom packaging and interaction: We haven’t seen the last of personalised bottles. More and more companies are trying to copy or emulate the Coca-Cola model. For example, products may come with a QR code, which would provide the consumer and the food company the opportunity to interact through an app on a smartphone. (RFID may be another technology that would enable that interaction.)
  • Custom vending: Vending machines for food and beverages have been around for a while, and these have mostly been used to sell snacks. With new technologies on the way, the possibilities are almost endless. In France, for example, you’ll find a French bread vending machine that bakes a loaf for you while you wait. Or how about a cupcake ATM: a machine that makes customised cupcakes to order?
  • Personalised products: More and more companies are finding their way online in order to provide personalised food products. Mymuesli.com is an example of this: The site lets you pick and mix ingredients online, all for your morning bowl of muesli. And have a look at Graze.com: Put together your very own snack box… and have it delivered to your doorstep!

The main challenges when it comes to personalisation are efficiency and costs. The innovations we’ve seen until now are mainly examples of mass customisation rather than of true personalisation. Technology-driven innovations such as 3D food printing, robotics and online retailing will facilitate personalisation to individuals, allowing flexibility, but at a relatively low cost per unit.

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