Title: Research and development in the food processing industry: current status and future opportunities

Authors: John F. McFarlane, David W. McDonald

Addresses: Food Technologist, Ralston Purina Company, St. Louis Missouri 63102, USA. ' Affiliate Professor of Technology Management, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA

Abstract: The food processing industry is becoming more sophisticated technologically because of increasing desires by customers for products with improvements in nutritional value, palatability, safety and convenience. The R&D functions of the leading US food processing firms are generally under-funded when compared to all US industry, yet are under great pressure to respond rapidly to shifting competitive actions and also to develop new products which provide significant competitive advantage. To optimize its effectiveness, each R&D function must develop a strategy that provides a balanced effort which supports the short- and long-term objectives of the business unit. The performance characteristics needed are defined and some attractive opportunities for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage are proposed. Included in the latter are approaches for utilizing information technology more effectively. The principles involved are believed to be applicable to other consumer products.

Keywords: food processing industry; food technologies; research and development; R&D strategies; business strategies; information technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1988.026001

International Journal of Technology Management, 1988 Vol.3 No.6, pp.721 - 734

Published online: 26 May 2009 *

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