Are we even innovating anymore?

Here’s an uncomfortable question I find myself asking more and more: how much of what gets called “innovation” in food and beverage is actually new?

Most of it isn’t. Most “innovation” today is really plug-and-play taking an ingredient or product concept that already exists somewhere in the world, and bringing it into a new market where it’s novel to that audience, even if it’s old news somewhere else. A functional beverage that’s been on shelves in Asia for a decade launches in the UK as “groundbreaking.” An ingredient that’s been a part of normal life in African formulations shows up in a US product as an exciting first.

That’s not nothing there’s real skill and value in adapting a concept to a new market, regulatory environment, and consumer palate. But it’s not the same thing as invention. It’s translation.

To share some examples: Yuzu is a fruit commonly grown in China it’s as if a lemon, a bitter orange, and a white grapefruit had a baby. In recent years it’s become a new flavor innovation in the UK, seen across functional beverages through to every category.

Ashwagandha was a small shrub that came from Africa, India, and the Middle East, used for ayurvedic medicine for centuries. Now every conference I attend is sponsored by ashwagandha in western countries, and the ingredient has grown from supplements into every sector across the grocery store.

The tell: how fast we can move

At Nali, we can often produce a working formula for a client within a single day in our lab. When people hear that, they’re usually surprised, sometimes skeptical. The honest explanation is simple: we’re not starting from zero. We have an AI formulation tool, and we draw on ingredients and market references that already exist somewhere in the world. We’re recombining known, proven elements quickly, efficiently, and with the client’s sign-off. Of course, not all products can get produced this quickly, especially if you want to explore outside of the agreed brief. If you say you want mango now and the brief was for an orange, it’s going to take some more time…

However, that speed is possible precisely because these innovations aren’t groundbreaking. True invention doesn’t work that way think years of R&D and many failed attempts.

What actual innovation costs

Real innovation like a new ingredient, process, or format that doesn’t exist anywhere yet is a completely different undertaking. It can take years of trial and error, false starts, and failed formulations before anything close to a viable product exists. And here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough: there isn’t much capital patient enough for that timeline anymore.

Investors and brands alike are usually looking for a return within a few years, not a decade. A founder pitching “this could work, in maybe five to seven years, after significant R&D investment” is a much harder sell than one pitching “we’re bringing a proven format from another market, and we can be on shelf in six months.” The economics of the industry quietly push almost everyone toward the second option myself and my clients included.

Naming the difference honestly

In the industry, there’s actually language for this distinction: incremental innovation (improving, adapting, or recombining what already exists) versus true breakthrough or “existing-to-new” innovation. Most of what gets marketed to consumers as “innovative” is the former, dressed up in the language of the latter.

I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing incremental innovation still delivers real value to consumers, and it’s a legitimate, often very skillful discipline. But I think the industry (myself included, at times) could be more honest about which one we’re actually doing, and why. Founders deserve to know that “fast innovation” usually means “borrowed innovation” and that’s not a compromise, it’s just how the economics of building a brand actually work today.

For the scientists and companies out there doing real breakthrough innovation, I hope they can make it through this grueling process and come out on the other side.

What I ate this week that was delicious

This was a special week, I celebrated my two-year wedding anniversary with my husband and dined at the Fat Badger in London. To choose one course that was delicious would be difficult, so I’ll tell you about a few I’ll be dreaming about. First off, the Irish soda bread stole the show it wasn’t dry and crumbly, it was moist and dense with a crunchy crust, paired with a whipped butter studded with chunks of sea salt. The John Dory with parsley oil and padron peppers (shishito peppers, for my Americans) was outstanding, I have no words to describe it other than bites of heaven. For our main course, my husband ordered the venison, which I typically find too gamey or lackluster but this was cooked to perfection over their open fire and paired with a horseradish sauce. Overall, I can say I was very happy to ring in my anniversary at the Fat Badger.

Natalie

Originally published on Substack.