A global snacks leader developed a breakthrough innovation where consumers make pre-made uncooked snacks at home to create the final product, a freshly made, crunchy, and more sustainable than conventional snacks. As a semi-finished food, the product sits in a unique position: it combines compelling consumer advantages with a shared responsibility model where product quality depends, in part, on the consumer's cooking behaviour and equipment.

This novelty created elevated risk perceptions particularly around on-pack communications that were stalling the development process. Unlike the company's core portfolio, the innovation required a fundamentally different approach to both compliance and consumer instructions across multiple markets.

Approach

The project was structured around two parallel tracks:

Legal Inquiry: understanding producer liability, consumer injury litigation precedents, and regulatory requirements across the Europe and North America to establish what is legally acceptable on-pack.

Operational Inquiry: consumer risk assessment of ISO frameworks, covering hazard identification, risk and exposure analysis, and consequence mapping to define what cooking instructions are compelling and protective for consumers.