Judynyc
Mon, Jan-01-07, 12:13
Gaining by going against the grain
Pastamaker that rode out Atkins diet craze sees fiber-rich product `growing like a bullet'
By Ann Meyer
Special to the Tribune
Published January 1, 2007
Chris Bradley thinks his company's newest pasta could help consumers' diet-related New Year's resolutions come true.
Made with enriched durum semolina flour, natural pea fiber and flaxseed, Foulds' Fiber Wise Pasta contains 12 grams of natural dietary fiber, about six times that of ordinary pasta and more than double that of whole-wheat products. By adding corn flour and egg white, the pasta has a taste and texture that is getting rave reviews, said Bradley, president of Foulds Inc., a 121-year-old pastamaker in Libertyville with less than $25 million in sales.
The Fiber Wise brand, launched in March, represents less than 10 percent of the company's volume, but with research pointing out the health benefits of a fiber-rich diet, "it's growing like a bullet," Bradley said. More than 4,000 stores carry the product, including Jewel and Dominick's stores.
Foulds began developing the product while the low-fiber Atkins diet was all the rage, out of the company's conviction that pasta, as a slow-burning complex carbohydrate, had a place in healthy diets.
"With all the focus on the Atkins diet, we saw the mass of confused consumers," Bradley said.
What dieters wanted most, he was convinced, was to eat better and lose weight.
"We thought long and hard about the landscape, and we came to the decision that we didn't believe in low carb," he said. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, the company took the opposite tack.
"We thought, how can we build a product with a real nutritional impact, and do something that's honest and has integrity and will be long-lasting?" Bradley said. "That's what drove the innovation."
A willingness to go against the grain, take risks and try something new is necessary for innovation, experts say. Yet, many small businesses get so caught up in the daily grind that they don't devote enough time or resources to research and development.
Creating a culture of innovation must start at the top, with leaders who understand the importance of letting workers experiment and fail while developing ideas, knowing that lessons gleaned from those failures can lead to success later, said Lisa Gundry, professor of management and director of the Leo V. Ryan Creativity Center at DePaul University.
For many small manufacturers that have grown accustomed to churning out products the same way for decades, a focus on innovation requires a leap of faith, Gundry said.
"If they are successful but haven't tried anything new in a while, they have to learn how to trust themselves again," she said.
An investment in innovation might seem risky initially, but it can pay off over time. Engineered Machined Products, an Escanaba, Mich.-based manufacturer of diesel-engine components and thermo- and oil-management technologies, watched its sales climb to $320 million in 2004 from $123 million in 2002 after it made capital improvements and emphasized innovation, said Paul Harvey, director of new business development.
In fact, making no changes would have been a bigger risk to the company's long-term survival, he said, due to growing global competition.
"There was initially a fear that it would displace workers," Harvey said, "but if we didn't invest in automation, we wouldn't be able to compete from a price point."
In the end, no jobs were lost, quality improved and the company picked up business from customers who appreciated its ability to solve problems on the fly, Harvey said. When customers asked the company to build a part, its engineers figured out a way to make it better, often using lighter materials for greater efficiencies.
"When that happens, you build a bond, and these people tend to come back to you," Harvey said.
But to do that time and again requires a company culture that encourages innovation and risk-taking. Most of the new ideas come from workers on the shop floor, Harvey said.
"The culture developed quickly because people saw there's a lot of opportunity here if we do this thing right," he said.
Bradley can relate to the emphasis on quality. While Foulds has watched many of its competitors move to high-volume pastamaking, the company has continued to make its pasta slowly, drying it at lower temperatures over a longer time period to create an artisan texture, Bradley said.
"When you focus on high quality, your opportunities for growth can be more longer run than short run," he said. Besides Fiber Wise, the company makes premium white and whole-wheat products under the Foulds brand and for other food manufacturers.
Still, the decision to enter the market with a new premium brand was a bold move for a company that in recent decades had been known largely as a co-packer. But to Bradley, innovation has been a part of the company since the 1880s, when it introduced its pasta to a market that had never seen macaroni before.
Any company can be innovative if top management makes it a priority, Gundry said.
con't here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0701010167jan01,0,3867476.story?track=rss
Pastamaker that rode out Atkins diet craze sees fiber-rich product `growing like a bullet'
By Ann Meyer
Special to the Tribune
Published January 1, 2007
Chris Bradley thinks his company's newest pasta could help consumers' diet-related New Year's resolutions come true.
Made with enriched durum semolina flour, natural pea fiber and flaxseed, Foulds' Fiber Wise Pasta contains 12 grams of natural dietary fiber, about six times that of ordinary pasta and more than double that of whole-wheat products. By adding corn flour and egg white, the pasta has a taste and texture that is getting rave reviews, said Bradley, president of Foulds Inc., a 121-year-old pastamaker in Libertyville with less than $25 million in sales.
The Fiber Wise brand, launched in March, represents less than 10 percent of the company's volume, but with research pointing out the health benefits of a fiber-rich diet, "it's growing like a bullet," Bradley said. More than 4,000 stores carry the product, including Jewel and Dominick's stores.
Foulds began developing the product while the low-fiber Atkins diet was all the rage, out of the company's conviction that pasta, as a slow-burning complex carbohydrate, had a place in healthy diets.
"With all the focus on the Atkins diet, we saw the mass of confused consumers," Bradley said.
What dieters wanted most, he was convinced, was to eat better and lose weight.
"We thought long and hard about the landscape, and we came to the decision that we didn't believe in low carb," he said. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, the company took the opposite tack.
"We thought, how can we build a product with a real nutritional impact, and do something that's honest and has integrity and will be long-lasting?" Bradley said. "That's what drove the innovation."
A willingness to go against the grain, take risks and try something new is necessary for innovation, experts say. Yet, many small businesses get so caught up in the daily grind that they don't devote enough time or resources to research and development.
Creating a culture of innovation must start at the top, with leaders who understand the importance of letting workers experiment and fail while developing ideas, knowing that lessons gleaned from those failures can lead to success later, said Lisa Gundry, professor of management and director of the Leo V. Ryan Creativity Center at DePaul University.
For many small manufacturers that have grown accustomed to churning out products the same way for decades, a focus on innovation requires a leap of faith, Gundry said.
"If they are successful but haven't tried anything new in a while, they have to learn how to trust themselves again," she said.
An investment in innovation might seem risky initially, but it can pay off over time. Engineered Machined Products, an Escanaba, Mich.-based manufacturer of diesel-engine components and thermo- and oil-management technologies, watched its sales climb to $320 million in 2004 from $123 million in 2002 after it made capital improvements and emphasized innovation, said Paul Harvey, director of new business development.
In fact, making no changes would have been a bigger risk to the company's long-term survival, he said, due to growing global competition.
"There was initially a fear that it would displace workers," Harvey said, "but if we didn't invest in automation, we wouldn't be able to compete from a price point."
In the end, no jobs were lost, quality improved and the company picked up business from customers who appreciated its ability to solve problems on the fly, Harvey said. When customers asked the company to build a part, its engineers figured out a way to make it better, often using lighter materials for greater efficiencies.
"When that happens, you build a bond, and these people tend to come back to you," Harvey said.
But to do that time and again requires a company culture that encourages innovation and risk-taking. Most of the new ideas come from workers on the shop floor, Harvey said.
"The culture developed quickly because people saw there's a lot of opportunity here if we do this thing right," he said.
Bradley can relate to the emphasis on quality. While Foulds has watched many of its competitors move to high-volume pastamaking, the company has continued to make its pasta slowly, drying it at lower temperatures over a longer time period to create an artisan texture, Bradley said.
"When you focus on high quality, your opportunities for growth can be more longer run than short run," he said. Besides Fiber Wise, the company makes premium white and whole-wheat products under the Foulds brand and for other food manufacturers.
Still, the decision to enter the market with a new premium brand was a bold move for a company that in recent decades had been known largely as a co-packer. But to Bradley, innovation has been a part of the company since the 1880s, when it introduced its pasta to a market that had never seen macaroni before.
Any company can be innovative if top management makes it a priority, Gundry said.
con't here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0701010167jan01,0,3867476.story?track=rss