General Mills Fills a Void on Shelf
The Consumer Insights group at General Mills Corporation found that Chinese food is the most frequently eaten ethnic cuisine in restaurants, yet people avoid its seemingly complicated preparation. With no leading national brand of Chinese food within the frozen entrée category in the United States, the company recognized a clear growth opportunity for its Wanchai Ferry brand, which was already popular with consumers overseas.
Doing its Homework
To gain entry into the category, the company immersed itself in research to find the most authentic Asian dishes that would truly resonate with consumers' palates. An innovation team visited countless Asian restaurants and markets, and examined a variety of best-in-class Asian cookbooks and recipes. In addition, the company sought the expertise of an outside partner with experience in Asian foods and identified CP Foods, one of world's largest shrimp producers in Thailand, as a good fit. This open innovation partnership allowed General Mills to quickly enter a new product category with less risk and investment. Together, they created two varieties of the Wanchai Ferry frozen entrées: Shrimp Lo Mein and Sweet & Spicy Shrimp. In addition, General Mills, CP Foods and its film supplier worked to develop a novel way to produce steamable microwave rice pouches.
"Through our open innovation program, G-WIN, we look for brand new technologies or technical expertise that can help us solve problems; this is where CP Foods was instrumental in the launch of Wanchai Ferry frozen entrées," says Bellairs.
A Consumer Hit
The new Wanchai Ferry line of frozen entrées allows consumers to make restaurant quality Chinese food at home in just 14 minutes.
Since the product's introduction, consumers have responded favorably. According to a company taste test, 84 percent of consumers thought Wanchai Ferry was just as good as or better than food eaten at a Chinese restaurant. At the time of launch, Wanchai Ferry introduced five stock keeping units. Today, there are eight varieties.
Words of Wisdom: "We are continually building our programs and capabilities to more effectively engage with internal collaborators, trusted partners and new partners that will allow us to deliver truly innovative new products."
-- Jeff Bellairs, Director, General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network
FAST FACTS:
The Wanchai Ferry line is a success story of the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network, an open innovation platform that helped to create more than 40 new products since its launch in 2007.
New Product Success
General Mills' expansion of its international Wanchai Ferry brand to the U.S. frozen entrée category accounted for more than $50 million in retail sales in Fiscal Year 2010.