New Products News: Product launches scaled back in 2009
“In the last decade, Mintel GNPD has only tracked occasional, small declines in new product introductions for the U.S. market — never a decline as strong as this,” said Lynn Dornblaser, leading new product expert at Mintel, in a company release. “We see that a number of small companies, which typically introduce a wide range of products, have been stopping or slowing their introductions due to the economy. Additionally, some categories have simply become so over-saturated that there is little room for new products.”
Despite this declining trend, there are some categories and claims that found a hidden niche in which to excel. Ethical and environmental claims increased from 9 percent of all product launches in 2008 to 17 percent in 2009. Specifically in this category, the environmentally friendly packaging claim nearly tripled, growing from 3 percent of all products launched in 2008 to 9 percent in 2009.