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Innovation

Management Consulting for the Beverage Industry at Eckes-Granini

Eckes-Granini deliberately chose a different approach to its product and packaging innovation: rather than starting with known consumer needs, it systematically deconstructed its existing product portfolio. BOLD KBC Center for Innovation supported the New Promise Development process using the disruptive “The BOLD Way” method and transformed many raw ideas into prioritized concepts ready for implementation.

Management Consulting for the Beverage Industry: By the Numbers

developed new ideas
Mini Business Plans
More ideas from the Ideas Download

The Customer

Eckes-Granini as a European beverage manufacturer

The client is Eckes-Granini, a leading European beverage manufacturer with an international brand portfolio and an established innovation process. The focus was on fruit beverages, packaging, and product-related services. The company was already working with consumer insights, trend areas, and a traditional stage-gate process. For this project, the goal was not to replace this approach but to supplement it with a counterintuitive innovation logic: a method that deliberately breaks down existing product lines, thereby revealing new value propositions. 

The Project

Systematic development of new ideas for products, formulations, packaging, and marketing

Some problems defy conventional approaches: they are too technically complex, organizationally entrenched, or subject to regulatory challenges. To address these, innovative approaches were developed here. The BOLD KBC Center for Innovation supported Eckes-Granini in a “New Promise Development” project designed to generate ideas for products, formulations, packaging, and marketing. At the heart of the project was “The BOLD Way”—a scientifically grounded innovation method. Rather than translating needs into ideas in a linear fashion, this disruptive methodology follows the principle of “Function Follows Form”: the existing product portfolio is deconstructed, reassembled, and only then evaluated for potential functions, benefits, and market opportunities. This approach favors a radical shift in perspective over incremental optimization. The process included preparation and insight gathering, an intensive workshop, idea selection, rapid prototyping, and the translation of prioritized approaches into mini business plans. 

Portrait photo of John Dowling, a partner at Kemény Boehme Consultants (KBC). A man with short, graying hair and square dark glasses looks calmly and confidently into the camera. He is wearing a dark navy blue suit over a light blue shirt without a tie, with one hand in his pants pocket.
Portrait photo of John Dowling, a partner at Kemény Boehme Consultants (KBC). A man with short, graying hair and square dark glasses looks calmly and confidently into the camera. He is wearing a dark navy blue suit over a light blue shirt without a tie, with one hand in his pants pocket.

This Is How We View Management Consulting in the Beverage Industry

Innovative approaches emerge when we don’t just improve the status quo, but methodically challenge it. This is precisely where the BOLD KBC Center for Innovation excels: We take existing products, processes, and resources seriously, but break them down so thoroughly that new options become apparent. This is particularly relevant for the beverage industry, because product formulation, packaging, branding, retail, and consumption occasions are closely intertwined.

John Dowling, Partner at KBC

The result

96 evaluated ideas and 8 prioritized concepts for new beverages, packaging, and services

The project yielded 74 new workshop ideas as well as 22 complementary approaches drawn from the idea bank and existing initiatives. The ideas were clustered, evaluated, and prioritized based on defined criteria: feasibility, brand fit, volume potential, and USP. Eight prioritized approaches were developed into mini business plans, including concepts for new beverages, additional flavor experiences, more sustainable packaging, interactive labels, and new out-of-home applications.  

The unique impact lay in the methodological shift: The BOLD KBC Center for Innovation made ideas accessible that were not immediately apparent in the typical insight- or trend-driven process. The five thinking patterns served as operational tools: Subtraction removes elements and creates space for new functions; Multiplication multiplies components and alters them qualitatively; Division breaks down systems and reorganizes them; Fusion assigns additional tasks to existing resources; relation links or breaks dependencies between variables. There is also comprehensive evidence from BOLD projects: over 1,000 projects across approximately 40 industries and 52 countries, with documented examples such as a 30% reduction in construction costs, a 50% reduction in construction time, and a 51% cost-reduction potential for a single module.

Portrait photo of John Dowling, a partner at Kemény Boehme Consultants (KBC). A man with short, gray-streaked hair and distinctive dark brown rectangular glasses looks calmly and intently into the camera. He is wearing a dark blue suit with a matching jacket and pants over a light blue shirt without a tie; one hand is casually in his pants pocket, the other loosely at his side, and he maintains an upright and confident posture.
Portrait photo of John Dowling, a partner at Kemény Boehme Consultants (KBC). A man with short, gray-streaked hair and distinctive dark brown rectangular glasses looks calmly and intently into the camera. He is wearing a dark blue suit with a matching jacket and pants over a light blue shirt without a tie; one hand is casually in his pants pocket, the other loosely at his side, and he maintains an upright and confident posture.
John Dowling
Partners

Facing a similar challenge? Talk to us

Whether you’re looking for new product ideas, packaging innovations, or support from a management consulting firm specializing in the beverage industry: In a brief discussion, we’ll determine which steps make sense and how KBC— an international boutique management consulting firm based in Munich —can help you move forward. 

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