Tudia Lactate is a cheese manufacturer with 20 years of experience on the local and European market. The industry is competitive, with multinationals driving prices down and offering a larger portfolio of products. The only way to survive is to create new, better products that people want to buy.

The challenge was to select the product that will generate the most sales out of three potential options. What made things even more complicated was that the new products needed large investments in order to buy equipment and make it to production.

Our approach was to collaborate with food engineers to create each of the products in a lab, on a small scale, and with a designer for new packaging. We then organized a series of focus groups to get real user evaluation regarding the packaging, texture and taste.

Market testing happened after feedback was received on a small scale, so now it was time to get the products out in the real world, because we want real data to check product traction. A series of experiments were done – part of them in offline, in supermarkets, and the other part online, with social media ads. 

The results were collected from all channels and analyzed on their performance. By looking at the success criteria defined at the start of the project, we knew what the best product would be to go to market on a large scale, without having to worry that people will not like it. The product is now sold in many European countries, with sales growing steadily.