Projects · 20 years of FMCG innovation
Selected work from my career at Nestlé and Cereal Partners Worldwide, plus two experiments outside food: a study in education, and a service business of my own. Each one shows a different tool (Lean Startup, ethnography, MVP thinking, parallel exploration) and what it changed for the team.
Coached a global cross-functional team through its first full Lean Startup cycle to launch a high-protein cereal range, testing the "taste penalty" before R&D committed.
Read the caseA "conviction MVP" for plant-based jerky, built to prove the business case, and documented well enough to survive two deprioritisations and a hand-over across regions.
Read the caseAligned R&D, Marketing and Operations on day one, then ran rapid prototype rounds with consumers. The final prototype beat category leaders in consumer tests.
Read the caseDesigned from Ohio for Europe: a structured immersion across 10+ pizzas and five European markets, then only the 2–3 features that deliver most of the value.
Read the caseIn-home observation of real consumers revealed small handling errors behind falling loyalty. Packaging and instructions changed, with no reformulation needed.
Read the caseOne method, three market teams (Asia, Africa, South America) running at the same time, with one global roadmap so leaders could compare and decide fast.
Read the caseOut of curiosity, I applied my consumer-friction diagnostic to a leading hospitality school's public online offer, to see which innovation tools survive outside food.
Read the analysisI applied my own method to a separation-support service in French-speaking Switzerland: explicit hypotheses, a low-cost build, AI-assisted operations, search data, and a clean decision.
Read the caseNo project with this filter yet.
The pattern
R&D, Marketing and Operations agree on the riskiest assumption before anyone builds.
Observation, diaries and immersion beat opinions. The real insight is in what people do.
An MVP is a discipline: the 2–3 features that matter, tested early and imperfect.
Pivot, persevere or stop, with data the whole team trusts. How I run that decision.
I'm always happy to compare notes with people solving the same problems. Reach me on LinkedIn, or follow Notes on Reinvention for the lessons behind these projects.
