Product failure rate is ‘too high’

STUDIES show that as many as 90% of all new food and drink products fail to survive more than one year in the market, Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh told the annual conference of the British National Farmers Union in Birmingham yesterday.

He said there are many reasons for this high failure rate. Surveys highlight the fact that the majority of companies engaging in new product development do not have an explicit strategy.

“Also, although new product development is a very expensive business, most companies do not usually approach it in a market-oriented fashion.