2015 New Product Pacesetters: Top 10 Food & Beverage Brands

Information Resources Inc. (IRI), released its 2015 New Product Pacesetters™ report identifying the most successful consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands based on exceptional first-year dollar sales for 200 products that captured cumulative sales of more than $6.5 billion.

Thousands of new brands hit retail shelves during 2015, with 54 percent of all new product launches hailing from the food and beverage aisles. The top 100 food and beverage New Product Pacesetters averaged 19.6 million year-one dollar sales, down from $22.9 million in 2014.

Exciting and high-end attributes are found in the top-ranking products and are in line with what consumers are saying they want from new food products. According to IRI’s survey, 29 percent of consumers want to indulge without paying restaurant prices; 24 percent want to add excitement to their daily diet; and 21 percent seek options that are truly new and different.

Consumers also want flavor excitement to spice up their daily diets, as well as healthier-for-you solutions. For instance, fairlife® milk uses a new, patented filtration process that concentrates some of milk’s natural nutrients, while filtering out lactose and reducing sugars. Loads of flavor is found in crossover brands from restaurants and other realms, such as Chili’s® At Home frozen dinners and McCafé® coffee.

The top 10 food and beverage brands making the 2015 New Product Pacesetters list include:

In the convenience-store arena, median year-one sales across the top 10 IRI New Product Pacesetters were $18.6 million, with food and beverage brands taking eight of the 10 spots.

The top 10 convenience store brands making the 2015 New Product Pacesetters list include: