Majority of 2019’s top CPG innovations had $100 million+ in sales

The IRI has released its 2019 New Product Pacesetters report [pdf] highlighting the most successful new product launches across food and beverage, nonfood, and convenience store sectors.

Both large and small companies were successful in 2019, thanks to consumers’ willingness to embrace an expanded range of product types and attributes. However, the big story of 2019 was the return of the blockbuster product launch. Six food and beverage New Product Pacesetters earned more than $100 million in multioutlet channels. The last time the food and beverage category had at least six products break the $100 million mark was in 2012.

“It’s not just that these products eclipsed the monumental $100 million plateau, but this year’s 10 $100 million-plus launches account for 33% of all Pacesetter dollars, accentuating that big is back,” said Joan Driggs, vice president of content and thought leadership for IRI.

In 2019, 53% of New Product Pacesetters came from small companies (less than $1 billion in sales). Small companies are typically able to innovate quickly, demonstrate flexibility, and act faster than their larger counterparts. The challenge for smaller companies generally is distribution power, but thanks to the “Shark Tank” effect, products like Kodiak Cakes Power Waffles and chickpea-based Banza noodles were able to get noticed and distributed.

Big companies also made a splash in 2019, accounting for 24% of New Product Pacesetter products and half of Pacesetter dollars. While smaller brands have smaller budgets and typically rely on nontraditional media outlets, big brands dedicated 25%–30% of sales dollars to advertising. For example, Gatorade G Zero saw $154 million in multioutlet sales in 2019 and spent $39.5 million on advertising, according to Kantar Media reports. In contrast, the No. 1 food and beverage New Product Pacesetter, Bang energy drinks, spent $2,200 on traditional media but generated almost $300 million in multioutlet sales.

The Top 10 Pacesetters for the food and beverage category are as follows:

1. Bang energy drink (Vital Pharma): $299.4 million
2. Enfamil NueroPro baby formula (Reckitt Benckiser): $230.5 million
3. G Zero sports drinks (PepsiCo): $154.4 million
4. Bubly sparkling water (PepsiCo): $116.3 million
5. Arnold/Brownberry/Oroweat Sandwich Thins bread (Grupo Bimbo): $103.2 million
6. Corona Premier beer (Constellation Brands): $101.8 million
7. Cheez-It Snap’d snacks (Kellogg’s): $88.7 million
8. SlimFast Keto weight control (Glanbia): $76.2 million
9. Perdue Simply Smart Organics poultry (Perdue Farms): $70.7 million
10. Pop-Tarts Bites toaster pastries (Kellogg’s): $68.3 million