The most successful food and beverage consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands of 2010 included Powerade Ion4, Chobani, Wonderful Pistachios, Glacéau Vitaminwater Zero, Nature's Pride, Trop50, Thomas' Better Start, Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups, Budweiser Select 55 and Trident Layers, according to SymphonyIRI’s annual New Product Pacesetters report.

The theme of this year’s report, “Innovating Growth in a Down Economy,” underscores the success that CPG marketers are finding in bringing to market products that raise the bar on consumer expectations around everyday CPG solutions.

“These Pacesetter products are forever changing the CPG landscape,” said Larry Levin, executive vice president, Consumer Insights, SymphonyIRI. “In spite of ongoing economic and market challenges, the manufacturers of these brands showed their grit in 2010. They invested to understand the roles their products could play in helping consumers navigate difficult financial waters. And, they used that knowledge to develop and deliver powerful new products that are filling those roles quite nicely.”

In 2010, successful food and beverage innovation heavily catered to home-based eating rituals. Innovation around breakfast solutions and salty snacks accelerated, together representing more than half of new food dollars. The juices, milks and waters, and coffee and tea beverage segments demonstrated similar strength, outperforming, by far, trends witnessed during the past several years. The top 10 food and beverage product launches of 2010 capitalized on home-based consumption, but simultaneously delivered against consumer desires for health and wellness, with just a little bit of indulgence along the way.

“It was an exciting year for food and beverage manufacturers,” said Susan Viamari, editor, Times & Trends, SymphonyIRI. “Evolving consumer trends opened the door to a broad range of innovation opportunities. Food and beverage manufacturers really did a phenomenal job seizing those opportunities to drive market growth.”