US consumers have seen fewer new food & beverage items on (online) retail store shelves in the past few years, with the number of new items introduced per quarter dropping from about 15,000 per quarter in 2021 to about 6,000 in 2024. Amid previously high inflation and supply chain challenges, many brands have refocused on their best-selling stock-keeping units (SKUs) and have cut the tail of their product lines. This has also showed up in the North American results of various consumer ingredients companies who are enablers of innovation as they offer new tastes, textures and fragrances. Various categories remain innovative. In energy and sports drinks, 19% of items sold are new items, almost twice the rate of total food & beverage. Innovation can be effective at gaining market with energy and sports drinks sales growing at 2.4 times the rate of total food & beverage sales.
Source: SPINS, January 2025.