A new web-based, content-driven product development tool for food retail organisations and food manufacturers was launched recently by food industry software vendor QSA. The new tool, ProductVine, is a web-based collaborative tool whose content-based format allows everyone involved in the development cycle to participate fully in developing attributes of the new brand. Di Mabe, a consultant with UK business consultancy Charteris plc,commented, "The key target markets for the product are, food and grocery retailers and manufacturers along with food service organisations. It is especially valuable when used to facilitate collaboration between retailers and manufacturers over the development of private label and corporate brands." According to a company statement the fundamental objective of the ProductVine system is to reduce the lead time of new product development from concept to shelf by 25 to 40 per cent. The company further claims that ProductVine also makes significant improvements in the integration of safety controls in food production into the product development process. QSA director Paul Byfleet stated, 'The food product development business has never been as complex as it is now, and has desperately needed a powerful content-based management tool to facilitate this crucially important function. We believe that ProductVine fairly and squarely meets the need for a solution which automates food product development and really makes collaboration possible over the web.
