In Redesign Food for Value, our ambition is clear: accelerate food innovations that deliver value: nutritional, environmental, and commercial. But even the strongest product idea can stall if the story doesn’t land. If consumers don’t immediately understand what it is, why they should buy it, and why they should trust it, uptake becomes an uphill battle. That’s exactly why concept testing is embedded in our programme: not as a judgement, but as a structured moment to learn, refine, and move forward with a sharper proposition.
A reality check that helps participants move faster
For this programme round we selected 13 participants and tested their product propositions with 300 consumers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The intention wasn’t to “pick winners”, it was to create a shared, evidence-based starting point: a baseline measurement of how each concept currently performs in the eyes of real consumers across key markets.
This baseline matters because it takes discussions out of the abstract. Instead of debating what might work, participants can see what consumers actually respond to, and what they don’t. It helps answer practical questions early: Is the concept clear? Does it feel relevant? What triggers interest and what creates doubt?
Dashboards that turn feedback into action
To make the insights usable, we created a dedicated dashboard for each participant. These dashboards consolidated the outcomes into a clear overview. The dashboards were delivered just before Christmas, which made them feel like a particularly useful present: something the participants could open and immediately start using. They arrived at the perfect moment to reflect, refocus, and begin shaping the next iteration of each proposition going into the new year.
The baseline, not the finish line
The key point is that these tests are part of the process. A baseline measurement highlights where the story already does its job and where it needs work. Sometimes the concept is strong but the narrative is too complex. Sometimes it’s compelling, but the difference versus existing alternatives isn’t obvious enough. Sometimes the benefit is attractive, but the “reason to believe” not yet convincing. Those aren’t dead ends but design inputs.
And these input lead to optimisations. Which are part of the next step. In a few months we’ll be testing these optimised concepts again, to showcase real progress.
Turning insight into stronger positioning with Innate Motion
After receiving their dashboards, participants continue through the programme with masterclasses on positioning led by Innate Motion. This is where the consumer insights are translated into sharper strategy and storytelling. It’s not about “marketing polish”; it’s about making the proposition easier to grasp and more motivating to choose.
Using the baseline outcomes as input, participants can rewrite and strengthen their narrative to optimise uptake by:
- Improving clarity: saying what it is in a way consumers instantly understand
- Increasing relevance: anchoring the message in a real need, moment, or motivation
- Sharpening differentiation: making the “why this, not the alternative” unmistakable
- Building credibility: strengthening proof points and confidence in the promise
In practice, this step helps teams move from a promising concept description to a consumer-ready story that earns attention and trust more quickly.
A stronger story is part of making impact real
Ultimately, Redesign Food for Value is about more than good ideas; it’s about adoption. Concept testing supports that by giving participants a practical mirror early on, before assumptions harden into strategy and spend. Combined with the positioning work that follows, it helps teams make smarter choices: what to keep, what to refine, what to clarify, and what to prove.
So the dashboards weren’t just a Christmas delivery, they were a milestone in the programme journey. A baseline, a learning moment, and a springboard to stronger narratives that can help these innovations travel further in the market.