Filling the baby food gap

As any parent will know, managing a weaning toddler is a delicate process. Since the transition to more solid food involves the child being introduced to eating with the rest of the family, this might be the first time a toddler experiences waiting between meals, leaving mums and dads with some very ‘hangry’ toddlers.

World-leading food company, Danone, hadn’t identified that this was a common pain-point for parents until Innolpeas stepped in to help out. The pair then developed a snack-like concept for between meals, which could help bridge the gap from milk to solids; something that would incorporate the artificial milk used for the smaller age groups, while still giving growing bodies the nutrients they need to thrive. There was nothing like this already available on the market, so the challenge was merely creating it, and making it into a success story.

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Happy tummies, on the go

The solution proposed was Blije Buikjes or "Happy Tummies", a range of healthy drink products that were all about 'saying no to hungry monsters', and providing an emergency backup food that not only placates ravenous toddlers but offers them a dose of key nutrients. These included an ‘on the go’ nutritional fruit or vegetable shot, a yoghurt drink with fruits and a larger in-the-fridge carton that would produce numerous portions over several days.

In order to gauge interest, Innoleaps developed a landing page where Danone could sell these 'fake' products before they were manufactured, alongside product descriptions expanding on their unique use case. Orders numbers grew quickly, and so we recommended Danone move forward with the products in the concept portfolio that showed the most promise.

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Consumer focus

In just 22 days we surveyed over 1,400 people, tested 16 concept products, and reached over 145,000 potential customers. The project, therefore, led to a 2.55% online conversion rate, selling 284 concept products that totaled over €1,000, all within a budget of just €6,600.

The major successes, however, were in the learnings undertaken by Danone. As a result of our consultations, the corporate witnessed the benefits of being more of a consumer-focused instead of product-focused brand. It also incorporated lean startup-style skills, such as getting to know the consumer first, focusing on ideation, and rapidly testing product concepts to validate if something is worth moving forward with without spending masses of time and money.

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