Abstract
The segment of functional foods is a global trend with expressive growth in recent years. Investments in innovation play an essential role in maintaining the competitiveness of food companies in an increasingly fierce market. This study provides an overview of innovation over the years 2008 to 2020 in the functional foods segment in Brazil by using patenting activity as an indicator of innovation. A patent search was conducted in the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) database to identify patent application records on the following functional foods: (i) gluten-free (ii) lactose-free/low-lactose (iii) probiotic (iv) prebiotic and, (v) enriched/fortified products. The main IPC codes retrieved refer to class A23L (33%), A61K (17%), and A23C (10%), confirming the deposits' relationship with human nutrition. From 2015 on, resident applicants stood out, especially in 2017, with the highest number of deposits in the period. Most patent applications target probiotics (35.3%), followed by fortified/enriched products (25.3%), gluten-free (14.3%), lactose-free/low-lactose (13.3%), and prebiotics (11.8%). Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs) figure among the top resident patent applicants. University-industry partnerships and research-oriented collaborative networks appear to be a feasible way to foster innovation in the food industry in the country. In summary, the patenting activity of functional foods in Brazil has awakened in recent years, showing trends and opportunities for innovation in the functional food segment.
Highlights
Innovation can be considered the driving force behind a company’s economic growth
The concept of open innovation emerged in the 2000s when Chesbrough (2003) observed that firms have started to search for innovation partners, despite intellectual property protection
The functional food segment has emerged as a global trend that promises to stick around for years to developed economies and emergent nations
Summary
The concepts of innovation have evolved in complexity, with many definitions and connotations - from the mid-1950s, when described linearly through conjugated processes, to more recent ones, such as diffuse and open innovation (Szymańska, 2017). Innovation arises as a disruption in the market, moving it out of balance, changing production patterns, and creating new ways of producing goods or services or entirely new industries, known as “creative destruction” (Schumpeter, 1988). Today’s consumers indicate to producers their preferences in a “chain inversion” process. According to this trend, innovations in the food industry are implemented in various ways, e.g., improving product quality and increasing variety, developing flexible processes and, providing better services (Bigliardi et al, 2020; Boland, 2008)
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