From Food Innovation to Commercial Success: Building the Intelligent NPD Ecosystem using AI-Enabled Technologies

Authors: Steve J. Perera & Suzanne D. Marambio

Steve J. Perera and Suzanne D. Marambio bring a dual-engine Food Innovation Economist perspective.

Steve provides the commercial, strategic and financial lens, focusing on market opportunity, viability, supply-chain economics and scaling innovation.

Suzanne brings food science, quality, regulatory, supplier assurance and NPD expertise, connecting technical feasibility with safety, compliance and consumer needs.

Together, they bridge the commercial opportunity with scientific and quality realities to create sustainable food innovation.

Food businesses can have excellent scientists, food technologists, QA professionals, procurement teams and manufacturing capability — yet still experience friction during NPD.

The problem is often not a lack of expertise.

Most Australian food NPD still runs on spreadsheets, email and lab books. While that system worked when change was slow, it can no longer keep up with today’s fast-paced market:

• Labelling is becoming stricter. Food ministers directed FSANZ in February 2026 to make the Health Star Rating mandatory, and Plain English Allergen Labelling has applied since February 2024. Every formula change now directly alters the final label.
• Reformulation is constant. Whole portfolios remain under constant review to meet the Healthy Food Partnership’s targets for sodium, sugar, and saturated fat.
• Costs and supply move weekly. Ingredient swaps are needed in days, not months, without breaking taste, shelf life or the label.
• Knowledge walks out the door. When formulas live in personal files, every trial and every lesson leaves with the person who ran it.

The result is slow launches, repeated bench trials, re-keyed labels and avoidable compliance risk.

Six Common Challenges:

• Fragmented product and ingredient information
• Supplier and raw-material variability
• Regulatory and compliance requirements
• Late-stage quality or food-safety concerns
• Poor communication between functions
• Rework caused by changes that are not communicated downstream

Phase 9 NPD introduced the concept of a Digital Thread for Food Innovation — creating a more transparent and connected journey across the NPD lifecycle.

The objective is to connect the critical information, decisions and stakeholders from customer need through to commercialisation, reducing fragmentation and improving visibility, traceability and decision-making.

This thinking became even more relevant as Phase 9 NPD explored the intersection between food innovation methodology and digital technology.

The vision is not simply to digitise existing paperwork; it is to connect:

People + Process + Data + Technology + Decisions into a more intelligent NPD ecosystem for the business.  The digital technologies become an enabler removing silos and allows for co-ordinated approach to achieve desired outcomes.

Therefore, give the current NPD processes and stakeholders the intelligence, information and connected workflow they need to spend less time searching, repeating and chasing — and more time innovating for customers.

The Conscious Food Innovation Framework provides the human and strategic context around that journey.

The framework therefore connects consumer needs, technical excellence, quality, compliance, supply and commercial strategy rather than treating them as separate activities.

01 — Ideation

Identify opportunities, consumer needs and innovation possibilities.

04 — Funding

Assess investment requirements and commercial justification.

07 — Trial Run

Move from development into pilot and manufacturing trial environments.

Phase 9 NPD brings:

Food NPD methodology + industry expertise + commercialisation + quality + compliance + human-centred innovation

The methodology is supported by structured decision gates and tools including SIPOC, DMAIC, QFD, FMEA, Risk Matrix, RACI and HACCP. The result is a framework designed to help organisations identify risk and alignment issues before they become expensive downstream problems.

MEMKO’s AI formulation solution puts Australian food manufacturers’ recipes, specifications, lab results and approvals on one platform, Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE. AI then helps teams design, test and launch products faster, run through the Phase 9 NPD process.

The solution brings together three parts, delivered as one programme:

1. The method: Phase 9 NPD. A food-specific, 9-stage process from Ideation to Support, with clear gates, roles and deliverables.
2. The platform: Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE. BIOVIA formulation science, lab and notebook tools, and ENOVIA project, specification and change management on one data model.
3. The food layer: MEMKO. The MEMKO Formulation App, configuration of Phase 9 NPD on the platform, integration with ERP, data migration, hosting, training and support from Melbourne.

Together, they replace scattered files with a single source of truth for every formula and add AI where it saves the most time: generating and screening candidate formulas before they reach the bench.

Dassault Systèmes cites an industry analysis finding that companies adopting predictive formulation tools have cut R&D cycles by up to 60% (3DS blog, June 2026). That is an industry figure, not a guarantee; a pilot measures what it means for your products.

Software alone often stalls on adoption, and a process alone leaves the data in spreadsheets. This offer brings method, platform and people in one accountable team.

Phase 9 NPD brings the method:

• A food-specific 9-stage framework with clear gates and deliverables
• Hands-on coaching from food scientists through formulation and trials
• A Master Class micro-credential, so your team owns the process

MEMKO brings the platform:

• Dassault Systèmes and IFS certified solutions partner, with food references at Saputo (Devondale Murray Goulburn) and Parle
• The MEMKO Formulation App, which makes 3DEXPERIENCE ‘food-ready’ on day one
• A Melbourne team for integration, data migration, hosting, training and support, with ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification to protect formula IP.

Together, they provide a dual-engine perspective — connecting commercial opportunity with scientific, quality and compliance realities.

We start small, on one product category, and measure the result before scaling.

1. Discovery workshop (half day, on site). Map your current NPD to the Phase 9 stages and agree the pain points.
2. Data sample. Share 3 to 5 representative formulas, specifications and a raw-material list, under NDA.
3. Tailored demo. See one of your own products on 3DEXPERIENCE, with AI formulation and NIP generation.
4. Pilot proposal. Agree scope, success measures, timeline and commercials for one category.

The pilot is measured on concept-to-launch time, bench trials per launch, formula cost variance, label and specification errors after release, and the share of formulas managed on the platform.

Suggested Indicative timing: discovery in weeks 0 to 3, a pilot in weeks 4 to 12, then a rollout across categories and sites.

To learn more please contact sales@memko.com.au or steve@phase9npd.com

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Healthy Food Partnership.
https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/healthy-food-partnership

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Partnership Reformulation Program.
https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/healthy-food-partnership/partnership-reformulation-program

Dassault Systèmes. (2026, June). How AI Is Cutting R&D Time and Costs in Food Formulation. Dassault Systèmes Blog.
https://blog.3ds.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods-retail/how-ai-is-cutting-rd-time-and-costs-in-food-formulation/

Food Ministers’ Meeting. (2026, 13 February). Food Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué. Food Regulation Secretariat.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). P1067 – Health Star Rating System.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). P1044 – Plain English Allergen Labelling.
https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/food-standards-code/proposals/P1044PlainEnglishAllergenLabelling