Getting It Out There: Marketing and Launch
The marketing plan stage is where companies work out the four P's - Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. They decide where to sell it, how much to charge, what the packaging should look like, and how to advertise it.
Getting the marketing right can be the difference between a product flying off the shelves or gathering dust in the stockroom. Even the most amazing food can flop if nobody knows about it or it's priced wrong.
Finally comes the big moment - product launch. This is when your creation hits the shops for real, and the manufacturers watch the sales figures like hawks.
During launch, companies monitor customer response obsessively. Are people buying it? What are the reviews like? Are sales staying steady or dropping off a cliff? This data helps them decide whether to celebrate or go back to the drawing board.
Fun Fact: Some products get pulled from shelves within weeks if the launch goes badly - all that work can disappear pretty quickly!
The whole process shows why developing successful food products takes ages and costs serious money. But when it works, companies can make fortunes from one brilliant idea.