New Product Idea

1. The Fruit Ripener Sujin Chang Sarah-Jane Plexman Stefani Pandovski Mark Bell Staney Varghese Adam Wexler

2. Overview Canadian Fruit & Vegetable market Grew 22.2% in 2009, and expected to grow by 13.6% by 2014 Canadian Food Guide children should consume 4-6 servings of fruit & veggies a day adults should consume 7-10 servings of fruit & veggies a day

3. Trends Health & Wellness nutritional , superfruits, locally sourced Time & Convenience Organic Food Movement Family Dynamics More singles, or dual income families Economic downturn More eating in home

4. Problem Retailers stock produce before it’s ripe in order to maximize shelf life Fresh fruits bought on a per consumption basis, not in bulk for storage Ripe fruit is not always available at retail stores

5. New Product A device that gives you the ability to hurry natures natural processes and instantly ripen those fruits you want to eat or serve immediately, without the hassle of waiting for it to ripen

6. Research Objective & Purpose Determine if demand exists for an instant fruit ripening product If so, identify the most relevant target market: Restaurants, caterers, grocery retailers, end consumers Sub-issues to be addressed involve the potential product: design, features, and price

7. Methodology Reverse Search Phase-1 Research Discussion Guide 13 consumer-level interviews 6 commercial-level interviews Phase-2 Research Online survey with 50 participants

8. Findings: Reverse Search Google Search: 412,000 results for the term “fruit ripener” Top Ad: Catalytic Generators LLC, a company that offers an industrial solution to ripening fruits using ethylene. Liivia, the counter top fruit ripener Westland Superphosphate (fertilizer) American Ripener, LLC The All Natural Process Fruit Ripener

9. Findings: Reverse Search Google Adwords Search Breakdown

10. Findings: Reverse Search Google Trends Moderate increase in search results (2 yrs) Highest number of searches were from India, Malaysia and the Philippines.

11. Findings: Reverse Search Compete.com 64 destinations for the keyword “ripe fruit” About.com (volume: 10.37%) Answers.com (volume: 7.81%) Yahoo.com (volume: 6.43%) Alexa.com Fante’s Kitchen Wares Shoppe (rank of 145,360) Liivia.com (rank less than 100,000)

12. Findings: Phase-1 Research Commercial-level interviews No overwhelming need Business owners concerns: Operation of the product Current supply chain practices More interest in preserving ripeness Jeopardize ability to market freshness and quality of fruit

13. Findings: Phase-1 Research Consumer-level interview summary Very concerned with actual “ripening” process Interested in: value added functionalities extend shelf life of already ripe fruit Parents not as excited in product as much as young singles or recently engaged individuals Ethnic consumers

14. Findings: Phase-1 Research Additional Findings

15. Assessment and Implication: Phase 1 Not wise to target the commercial market for this product feedback from those in the hospitality industry and grocery store owners were negative Positive response from an unexpected demographic - single or recently engaged males and females, with no kids, between the ages of 25 and 35

16. Findings: Phase-2 Research 50% of respondents see no real benefit in product “I really don’t see this as a huge problem for me in my household” Number of concerns over safety of product “How does this thing work exactly? Is it negating the positive attributes of eating fruit?” 76% of respondents not willing to pay more than $20

17. Assessment and Implication: Phase 2 Problem thought to exist amongst consumers purchasing unripe fruit is not a concerning issue People are accustomed to the process of having to wait for fruit to ripen naturally Significant R&D investment required to mitigate risks in order to call ripening process as “safe and healthy”

18. Recommendation Do not go forward with the instant Fruit Ripener Consumers do not view un-ripened fruit as an inconvenience Product that ripens fruit is new to customers thus leading to fears over safety Path forward: Scrap idea altogether or conduct further research to improve marketability of product

19. Fin