CGT Reveals 2012 Innovation Award Winners
Over the last few years, with budgets slashed and resources limited, many consumer goods companies have focused innovation efforts on mere line extensions or slight variations of existing concepts. But, there are exceptions. This year, CGT honored two companies that delivered truly revolutionary new products with the 2012 Innovation Awards.
The nomination process started in July, when entries in two award categories — Most Innovative Product and Most Innovative Company — were collected from consumer goods executives, industry analysts and consultants, and technology providers. These nominations were then narrowed down to a list of five finalists by CGT's editorial staff based on multiple award criteria. This slimmer nomination list was then sent to CGT's Editorial and Research Advisory Boards, which elected one winner in each category. The Innovation Awards were presented at the Consumer Goods Growth & Innovation Forum in Miami, Fla. in September 2012.
So with the votes tallied, CGT proudly presents the 2012 Innovation Award winners:
MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods industry's most innovative new product launched in 2011/2012.
WINNER: Flings Pop-Up Trash and Recycle Bins
TrashCo, Inc. is a small, highly innovative consumer packaged goods company seeking to bring disruptive innovation to the historically sleepy categories of trash bags and bins. Flings Pop-Up Trash and Recycle Bins bring breakthrough portability, ease of use and aesthetics to the consumer. Flings come flat (only about an inch thick), can be readily stored and then carried anywhere, popped open as needed, then tied and disposed. After listening to consumers about their broader recycling needs, TrashCo learned that 65 percent of recycling households lack a dedicated bin to capture recyclables inside the house. Instead they stack and pile everywhere, until someone gets fed up and hauls the items outside. TrashCo worked with Target and was able to go from concept — a smaller size specially designed for the in-house use case and compact enough to even fit under a sink — to national shipments in six months. TrashCo is about to sell its 1-millionth bin, which is an exciting milestone.
Finalists in this category included: Fiber One 90-Calorie Brownies (General Mills), Clorox Fraganzia (The Clorox Company), Tide Pods (P&G), Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey (Brown-Forman).
MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods company that has continually driven growth through product and/or process innovation in 2011/2012.
WINNER: Chobani
A student bikes 80 miles to see it made. People make cute cat videos with it to post online. We are talking, believe it or not, about yogurt — specifically Chobani Greek yogurt. In only five years, the startup brand has muscled in on a category long dominated by powerhouses, like the $1.3 billion Yoplait and $1.2 billion Dannon. In 2012, the company did an estimated $1 billion in sales and opened its second plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, to increase production capacity and develop new product innovations. "Everybody is looking for the magic answer," admits founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant who bought an old Kraft dairy plant that was being shuttered. Customers have been so expressive in sharing their passion that Ulukaya built Chobani's first ad campaign around it: "Real Love Stories" doubled sales. "We let customers define what Chobani was," he says. "It sounds good because we didn’t create it — the consumer did."
Finalists in this category included: Hallmark Cards, Mars Chocolate, Nestl and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
Visit consumergoods.com next week when we reveal the winners of our 2012 Business & Technology Awards. Plus, read CGT’s upcoming December issue for more detailed coverage about these awards winners.
The nomination process started in July, when entries in two award categories — Most Innovative Product and Most Innovative Company — were collected from consumer goods executives, industry analysts and consultants, and technology providers. These nominations were then narrowed down to a list of five finalists by CGT's editorial staff based on multiple award criteria. This slimmer nomination list was then sent to CGT's Editorial and Research Advisory Boards, which elected one winner in each category. The Innovation Awards were presented at the Consumer Goods Growth & Innovation Forum in Miami, Fla. in September 2012.
So with the votes tallied, CGT proudly presents the 2012 Innovation Award winners:
MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods industry's most innovative new product launched in 2011/2012.
WINNER: Flings Pop-Up Trash and Recycle Bins
TrashCo, Inc. is a small, highly innovative consumer packaged goods company seeking to bring disruptive innovation to the historically sleepy categories of trash bags and bins. Flings Pop-Up Trash and Recycle Bins bring breakthrough portability, ease of use and aesthetics to the consumer. Flings come flat (only about an inch thick), can be readily stored and then carried anywhere, popped open as needed, then tied and disposed. After listening to consumers about their broader recycling needs, TrashCo learned that 65 percent of recycling households lack a dedicated bin to capture recyclables inside the house. Instead they stack and pile everywhere, until someone gets fed up and hauls the items outside. TrashCo worked with Target and was able to go from concept — a smaller size specially designed for the in-house use case and compact enough to even fit under a sink — to national shipments in six months. TrashCo is about to sell its 1-millionth bin, which is an exciting milestone.
Finalists in this category included: Fiber One 90-Calorie Brownies (General Mills), Clorox Fraganzia (The Clorox Company), Tide Pods (P&G), Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey (Brown-Forman).
MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods company that has continually driven growth through product and/or process innovation in 2011/2012.
WINNER: Chobani
A student bikes 80 miles to see it made. People make cute cat videos with it to post online. We are talking, believe it or not, about yogurt — specifically Chobani Greek yogurt. In only five years, the startup brand has muscled in on a category long dominated by powerhouses, like the $1.3 billion Yoplait and $1.2 billion Dannon. In 2012, the company did an estimated $1 billion in sales and opened its second plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, to increase production capacity and develop new product innovations. "Everybody is looking for the magic answer," admits founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant who bought an old Kraft dairy plant that was being shuttered. Customers have been so expressive in sharing their passion that Ulukaya built Chobani's first ad campaign around it: "Real Love Stories" doubled sales. "We let customers define what Chobani was," he says. "It sounds good because we didn’t create it — the consumer did."
Finalists in this category included: Hallmark Cards, Mars Chocolate, Nestl and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
Visit consumergoods.com next week when we reveal the winners of our 2012 Business & Technology Awards. Plus, read CGT’s upcoming December issue for more detailed coverage about these awards winners.