In developing their annual Pacesetters report, Information Resources Inc. (IRI) (Chicago) evaluated all new brand names or extensions. Once such products achieved 30% distribution, IRI began tracking their next 52 weeks of sales, which composed the products' year-one sales total. A total of 547 food and beverage brands made the cut in the last year.
Those with over $7.5 million in year-one sales are identified as the Pacesetters, those products setting the trends. This year saw 130 food and beverage brands pass this criterion. While IRI did not include Vanilla Coke among its Pacesetters (the product had been on the market for only 36 weeks), the product's strong showing made it the food and beverage industry's bestseller, despite the other products' 16-week head start.