Cross-Industry Technology Transfer

New product introductions within the food industry were down in 2002 (Ostrowski, 2003), and the bulk of new food and beverage products were reformulations or line extensions rather than really new products (Gregerson, 2003). Food processors may dream of inventing the next green ketchup, but in the meantime they’ll settle for expanding flavor lines, redesigning packaging, and updating formulations to keep the supermarket aisles fresh.

For true new product inspiration, the answer may be to borrow t…