Food innovation – The challenges of collaboration between marketing and R&D.

Summary In 2011, France is the second European food producer after Germany with a production value of 151 billion euros which is mainly based on the transformation of 70% of its agricultural production (Ministry of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Forestry of France, 2012). France, however, lost the European leadership it held for decades in favor of Germany. In this hypercompetitive market situation, innovation is defined as the only solution for a differentiation besides cost reduction. However food innovation results in many failures: it is commonly accepted that the failure rates (withdrawal of the product from the market after one year) be in this sector of 70% (Anon, 1999). In the work presented here we focus on the organization implemented by food companies to support their innovation process and the relationships between the actors involved in it, particularly on the collaboration between the marketing and R & D. This model is supported by the synthesis of interviews conducted in different food enterprises with actors of the food innovation process.