La Laitière: sign-off on a premium dairy concept in four weeks

The challenge: real consumer buy-in before committing

Traditional dairy development takes 6 to 12 months, and often ends in late disagreements between functions. The mandate was to find out, quickly and with real consumer evidence, whether a differentiated taste concept could beat the category leaders.

My approach: alignment first, then consumer truth

1. Align on day one. I brought Marketing, R&D and Operations into one alignment workshop on the first day. That simple step prevents the expensive late vetoes that derail most projects in large companies.
2. Find the real insight. In-depth consumer interviews and focus groups showed what people wanted: “natural intensity”, a taste experience existing products weren't delivering.
3. Prototype in quick rounds. Fast, iterative builds were tested with consumers before any significant R&D investment. Each round sharpened the formula.

“The biggest time-waster in FMCG innovation isn't slow R&D. It's late misalignment between functions. Getting everyone in the same room on day one is the highest-return step of the whole process.”Amandine Devergies