New product development

Bring new products to market faster and with less risk

Food Trace manages the full NPD workflow from new line creation through to approved product specification with suppliers completing specs directly in the platform, your technical team reviewing and approving at every stage, and a complete audit trail retained throughout.

Trusted by Selfridges, Itsu, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey & Brockless and more

NPD pipeline

6 new lines in progress
HB
Harvey & Brockless - Sourdough Rye Loaf
Spec submitted · Under technical review
In review
FM
Fresh Meadows Ltd - Smoked Salmon Pâté
Awaiting allergen declaration
Info requested
AG
Artisan Grains Co. - Oat Granola Bar
Spec approved · Live on system
Approved
PL
Peak Larder Ltd- Truffle Hummus
New line created · Spec not started
Pending
50k
Approved specs
2wk
Avg time to live
100%
Audit trail
How Food Trace works

From new line creation to approved specification all in one place

Food Trace manages every stage of the NPD process your technical team creates the new line, the supplier completes the specification, and your team approves or requests amendments with a full comment and revision trail throughout.

Step 1 - Create

Your technical team creates the new line and notifies the supplier instantly

When a new product line is ready for development, your in-house technical team adds the basic product details in Food Trace category, product name, supplier and any initial requirements. The supplier receives an immediate notification to begin completing the product specification. No emails, no shared drives, no confusion about what version of the spec template to use.

  • In-house team creates new line with basic product details
  • Supplier receives instant notification to begin spec completion
  • Supplier must be approved before any live product specifications can be created
Step 2 - Review & approve

Review submitted specs, request amendments and approve all with a full comment trail

When the supplier submits their completed product specification, your technical team receives an alert to review. Every section of the spec ingredients, allergens, nutritional data, packaging, storage is reviewed in the platform. Your team can approve the spec immediately or request amendments through a structured comment box, with all revisions tracked and retained. Once approved, the product goes live on the system with a permanent version history.

  • Approve spec or request amendments with structured comments
  • Full revision history retained for every product specification
  • Approved specs immediately available for reporting and compliance
The results

What a structured NPD process delivers

50k

+

Approved specifications

Food Trace customers have over 50,000 approved product specifications on the system built up through a consistent, structured NPD process that scales as the product range grows.

2

wk*

Average time to approved spec

With suppliers completing specs directly in the platform and your team reviewing in real time, Food Trace customers get new products to approved specification significantly faster than paper-based processes.

100

%

Audit trail retained

Every new line creation, spec submission, amendment request and approval decision is permanently retained in Food Trace — giving you a complete NPD audit trail for every product in your range.

* Based on Food Trace customer data.
Explore the platform

Related platform features

Allergen & spec management

Manage allergen declarations and spec versions across your approved product range with full version control.

Nutritional calculation

Nutritional values are calculated automatically from product recipe data as part of the NPD workflow.

Supplier approval

Suppliers must be approved before product specifications can go live linking NPD directly to your compliance process.

Get started today

Ready to streamline your new product development process?

Book a free 30 minute demo. We'll walk you through Food Trace using your own supplier scenarios no slides, no pressure.