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WHY FDReview?
FDReviews is an innovative service. By tapping into our Food & Drink experts, you can get honest and impartial views on your products in early development as well as directions on how to make them right for the consumer market.
Food & Drink product development can be a costly business. Many companies rely on a few key individuals for their ideas which are largely 'road tested' by other members of the team.
It's difficult for this development cycle to remain both subjective and exhaustive enough to give the product the best chance of success.
We want to enhance your product development process.
Getting the right expertise and experience in a room can be an expensive and almost impossible task. Rather than bringing the experts to the products, you send your products to them. We then manage a review of your product via video call that will provide valuable feedback and insights for you to incorporate into your next successful launch.
Have a look at what happened on an FDReview for a new snack...
WHAT MAKES us DIfferenT?
1. Our Team are some of the most respected industry leading Food & Drink product experts in the UK. They have lived and breathed product development and have launched hundreds of successful products in retail and foodservice. They know what makes an item succeed or fail.
2. Cost-Saving. To bring this expertise together would be expensive. We are able to use technology and video calls to enable product reviews in an innovative and lower-cost model. Rather than bringing the experts to your product, you send it to them.
3. The Full Picture. You don't get sent a report, or an interpretation of the experts view, you receive the full review on video. Honest and direct feedback is the order of the day - everything we can do to guide your development decisions and achieve product success.
Enhance your product development team with our support.
How It Works...
Using our online booking tool, you book a slot for your product(s) to be reviewed remotely by our experts.
You will then be sent details (date and locations) of where and when to send your product samples.
Great news - our review service is now available for all frozen, chilled and ambient products that are either ready-to-eat or require warming or cooking at home.
Your product will be reviewed by a panel of experts via video call.
We put the best team together for your review and tell you where and when to send your products. You then leave it down to us to host your review and get you the quality feedback that your product deserves!
Our experts will review your product using our key review criteria and discuss both challenges and opportunities. More importantly they will make suggestions on how they feel the product can be adjusted for maximum success.
Unlike blind review processes you will be sent a video copy of the review containing honest and impartial feedback to support the subsequent stages of your product development.
Scroll down for more details and our FAQ's
BOoking
The first stage is to get your slot booked on one of our specialist review sessions.
There are 3 options available:
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Full Review - covering all six of our main review criteria
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Partial Review - useful for modifications to existing products
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Range Review - ideal for related product development
To find out more about what the types of review include, download our FDReviews Introduction and visit our PRICES page.
Browse through our review categories or type your product into the search bar. Once you have selected your review, you can go ahead and book a review date to suit your program.
All bookings are made a minimum of 2 weeks in advance - plenty of time for us to prepare the team, and for you to the arrange deliveries.
SENDing product
Once you are booked in, we will confirm to you the following:
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The location and date of where to send your product sample(s)
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Any specific additional delivery instructions
For chilled or frozen products, delivery is usually 2-3 days prior to your review. For ambient products, deliveries can be made earlier.
In addition to sending your samples, you also enclose a copy of your completed FDReviews Product Briefing Form, sent to you with your booking confirmation, plus any other material you may wish to include. As part of our session management, we will confirm with our experts in advance of the review session that they have received your products and we will notify you straight away if there are any delivery issues.
THE REVIEW
In your allocated session, your product will be reviewed by our team of experts via a video call. Our Full Review service will cover all aspects of your product including such criteria as:
• Innovation
• Packaging
• Design
• Ingredients
• Taste
• Commercial Offer
The call is mediated by an experienced Chairperson who will ensure that the feedback provided is clear, detailed, and relevant.
The video call is recorded, and you will be sent a full unedited copy soon after processing - within 48 hours of your review. This allows you to quickly assess what has been said and how you can incorporate any feedback into your product development program.
Due to the confidential nature of the process, you will not be able to sit in on the review or watch it live.
Frequently Asked Questions...
Where do I send my product(S)?
Once your session is booked you will be notified within 3-4 working days of your judging panel and the addresses to send your product to.
When do I send my product(s)?
You will be asked to send your product to the experts to ensure that they are delivered in time for the review. For chilled or frozen products we will aim for just a few days prior to your review - and try to ensure they are not sent over a weekend. Ambient products may be sent earlier once the team is confirmed for your review.
Can you recommend a company to deliver to the experts?
We don’t currently have any partner distribution solutions for delivery but this will be further investigated in due course. We are sure that you are used to sending product samples out, but we can advise on how to do it if you are stuck!
Can I take part in my review session?
Due to multiple products being reviewed in any specific session, it is not possible to facilitate live viewing or participation. You will receive the video of the session within two working days of it being recorded
How do I ensure my idea remains confidential?
All the experts have signed NDAs and non-compete agreements - when we select experts we will do our best to ensure there is no obvious confidentiality concerns and if they feel there is a conflict of interest they can excuse themselves from a review. See additional notes on our confidentiality management HERE.
I have a product that needs cooking - how do you do this?
We are able to fully review any 'cook-at-home' product. A large number of our experts come from culinary backgrounds and will happily review your cooking instructions and processes as part of our service.
Can I Choose My Own Experts?
We regret not as the availability of any particular expert cannot be guaranteed. We will ensure the selected experts are appropriate for your products.
What if I don't like my Allocated Experts
We are unable to change the allocated experts but if you are not happy you can ask for a new review date as long as product has not already been sent out. However, we very much believe that we have a team of experts who really know the industry and their key areas, so their feedback will be professional and relevant.
Can I get a written report of my review?
We regret that a written report is not possible. The whole FDReviews model is based around the use of video calls such that the feedback is totally transparent and not interpreted by us. The video you receive is exactly what was said, good and bad, so you get to see the full review.
My product did not arrive with all the experts - what are the options?
It is your responsibility to ensure the product is delivered and we will confirm any missing items in time to enable extras to be sent out. If most of the experts have received it then the review will go ahead.
When do I need to pay?
All reviews have to be paid for in advance on booking, there are no exceptions to this. Putting in additional finance team members to chase payments would only add to the cost of the business model - and subsequently increase review prices!
Can I have an account with you so I can just use the reviews when I need them?
We have a Season Ticket option to facilitate this. If you wish to discuss please make contact.
Are you able to review frozen product?
Yes we can! We accept frozen product submissions. In fact, as well as ready-to-eat products, we can now also review any item that can be simply warmed or cooked at home.
The only exception we have to make is that we cannot handle frozen products via our distribution service for international (ex-UK) customers.
If I want to put multiple products forward can you improve the price?
We have already shown a number of options for "Season Tickets" or Range Reviews but if these don’t fit please feel free to contact us and we can have further discussion.