Success Sweeter than Sugar: New Product Development Strategies of Successful Independent Bakeries in South Korea

Abstract

It is widely accepted that successful products lead to a business's success as a whole. Therefore, creating new products, or New Product Development (NPD), must be carefully conducted to minimize the risks of new product failure. Economists often debate the effectiveness of customer-led (CL) approaches, market-oriented (MO) approaches, and the degree of product newness in NPD. Unfortunately, there is little existing research on applying these NPD approach considerations in the food industry, specifically the bakery sector, especially regarding independent businesses. In the ultra-competitive bakery industry in South Korea (Korea), independent bakeries must carefully hone their NPD process to attract customers and maintain a competitive advantage. To uncover the NPD processes of successful bakeries in Korea, structured interviews with five bakery owners of successful bakeries were conducted and analyzed for common themes through a thematic analysis. This study found that both CL and MO approaches were used for most of the five bakeries. Additionally, most of the bakeries tended to prioritize technological novelty over consumer perceptions of uniqueness. Further research is needed on the applicability of this study's results in industries with lower levels of neophobia to see if the NPD processes used by Korean independent bakeries are successful in various environments or solely in the Korean bakery market. The findings of this study may help independent bakery owners develop effective NPD processes based on consumer behaviors in Korea and the strategies of their competitors.