Mathias Sucan; Quest International

Abstract: A whole-brain approach for improving flavor formulation/product development

A recent report by Bargman and Pomponi suggested that the food industry lags at least a decade behind other industries in the maturity of its product development process, in efficiency and effective development. Therefore, these authors stated that the majority of food companies are not getting the most out of their new product development investment. The authors further identified five key metrics of new product development capability:
1. development time to market
2. average profit per product
3. new product revenue per development headcount
4. pipeline throughput 5. new product introduction rate

Striking a balance: The utilization of the balance between art, science, logic and imagination, known as the da Vinci principle, is a whole-brain approach that can be extremely useful in product development. Most technical people in flavor and fragrance are left-brain thinkers. Their approach to product development can be detailed and analytical to the point that the most trivial visual and organoleptic cues are overlooked. Of course, science is always indispensable, but never sufficient. On the other end of the spectrum, one sometimes runs into a completely right-brain thinker, who skips over a lot of scientific information, jumping directly to product development primarily employing intuition and experience. Both approaches exploit just half of the mind — a terrible waste, and a formula for underperformance. The successful product developer is one who achieves some form of procedural balance between art and science/logic. For the complete article, click on "Purchase this article."