Innovation: Embracing the superpower of small and mid-sized entrepreneurs

Innovation can feel intimidating, especially when entrepreneurs are uncertain whether the risk of change will yield the benefits they seek.

FCC’s newly released Innovation Guide: Success Through Innovation, leads small and medium-sized food and beverage processors through a series of questions towards successful innovation.

The need for market innovation has never been more critical. Despite this need, Mintel, a market research company, reports that the rate of new product innovation in the food and beverage sector is down almost 50% since 2007. The industry faces challenges such as margin compression, global disruptions and labour shortages, amplified by economically strained consumers increasingly selective about where they spend their money.

Sector strength

Still, Canadian food and beverage processors are both resilient and adaptable.

“All the food and beverage manufacturing companies, from a single employee operation down to the very large companies, are all contributing to the success of this very important industry in Canada,” says Craig Klemmer, Manager of Thought Leadership at FCC. “In Canada, we're seeing a shift in the conversation around food manufacturing. It's no longer just a manufacturing sector in Canada, but it's evolving to be part of our national security and the food security conversation.” It’s simultaneously an exciting and unpredictable time to be a small and medium-sized food and beverage processor in Canada. Strategic innovation is vital to ensure that the investments companies make respond to both consumers’ needs and their markets.

Demystifying innovation

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