Innovation in traditional food products : does it make sense?

Innovation is widely accepted as one of the keys to the success of a company. However, companies can innovate and still fail if markets fail to accept the innovation. In most cases, the acceptance of an innovation depends on the innovation itself and also on the product to which it is applied. In this chapter, acceptance of different innovations in traditional food products is investigated, thus focusing on the definition of the “traditional” and “innovation” concepts from the consumer's perspective. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are combined to better understand and predict the possibilities of success when applying different generic and specific innovations in traditional food products. Overall, substantial possibilities for the introduction of innovation in traditional food products seem to exist without decreasing their traditional image, especially for those innovations that may increase the authenticity of the product. The information obtained from this study may support small- and medium-sized enterprises in certain decisions regarding communication, product positioning, and new developments in the traditional food market as well as when applying food innovations in their traditional food products