January 26/Chicago/Business Wire -- The economic slump paid its toll on U.S. food and drink manufacturers in 2009, according to a recent review of Mintel's Global New Product Database (GNPD). Food and drink product launches show a substantial decline of nearly 30% from 2008.
"In the last decade, Mintel GNPD has only tracked occasional, small declines in new product introductions for the U.S. market, never a decline as strong as this," notes Lynn Dornblaser, leading new product expert at Mintel. "We see that a number of small companies, which typically introduce a wide range of products, have been stopping or slowing their introductions due to the economy. Additionally, some categories have simply become so over-saturated that there is little room for new products."