Innovation strategies for functional foods and supplements—challenges of the positioning between foods and drugs

Abstract

Functional benefits delivering more than a nutritional value to consumers present an opportunity for above average returns and, thus, have triggered numerous innovations from food as well as pharmaceutical companies. This development of functional foods and supplements has led to a new inter-industry segment between foods and drugs. However, not all innovations are successful as new product positioning between foods and drugs is a complex task involving many challenges. In order to obtain a better understanding of how different players with differing industry backgrounds tackle this new segment, this paper investigates the innovation strategies of 54 research and development projects. The analysis presents eight different clusters of similar innovation strategies and seeks to deliver a framework for theory and practice to enhance innovation success of new products at the borderline between foods and drugs.