Since its inception in 1975, Tillamook Country Smoker (TCS) has always been about delivering high-quality meat products to consumers across America. Today, the company has grown into a full-fledged business with several product lines, ranging from beef jerky to gourmet smoked sausages and other meat snacks.
TCS were looking to prioritize their innovation pipeline, better understand consumer perceptions of new jerky & meat snack innovations, andidentify ideas to move forward with into the next stage of testing.

Identifying the innovations that offer strong potential to bring new users into the category and the TCS brand was another key task. The research process revealed some valuable insights about how TCS can deliver on unmet needs these consumers currently have, such as:

• Non-users gravitate to more “light” versions of jerky: A potential barrier for these consumers could be texture-driven – standard jerky may be too thick or hard to chew
• Perceptions of high sodium may be a barrier: There are relevant concerns that jerky is “bad” due to sodium content. Dispelling myths that jerky is over-salted and processed could also get the attention of those wary of the category. 

These findings help TCS understand what barriers non-users might have in mind and adapt their current offerings to meet those needs.

In order to understand how to move forward to the next stage and identify their future product, Dig Insights worked with the TCS team to conduct initial research that focused on screening respondent preferences for each concept.
To understand which concepts are most impactful, Dig used our proprietary innovation testing platform, Upsiide, to determine which ideas consumers are most interested in. The intuitive consumer interface of Upsiide allowed us to test up to 32 product concepts (including 4 benchmarks and a line extension) against each other.
After meticulously analyzing each concept, the Dig team created a full-fledged product roadmap for short-term and long-term success. Not only does Tillamook now know which ideas they should prioritize in the near future, but they also have a clear plan of action up to 2024 and beyond.

Tillamook Country Smoke is now equipped with everything they need to know to start targeting their current and new consumers. 
Their work of researching and continuously adapting their products continues, with future projects including:

• Moving to the next phase of development with the 3 key winners. 
• Evaluating R&D needs of ideas slotted for Q3/Q4 2023 and mid-term launch, ensuring that each idea is viable and profitable. 
• Continuing to optimize non-immediate needs with additional research efforts to understand the unmet needs of consumers and how each concept could fit into their lives.