In product development, moving fast is a competitive advantage. But moving fast can be challenging, especially with already strained R&D resources. That’s why Bluegrass Ingredients created the Invitation to Collaborate (I2C) program.

It’s a new approach to product development that combines the latest consumer trend intelligence with culinary creativity and product development support to get your new product to market smarter and faster. It’s more than a brainstorming session. It’s an intensive collaboration exercise grounded in your brand’s goals, targets and capabilities.

Customized Innovation, Not Cookie-Cutter Concepts

Each I2C session starts with a pre-meeting, where our culinary team gets insight into your target consumers, product development goals and manufacturing capabilities. Next, our team designs a curated menu of on-trend product concepts built specifically for your session and your brand.

Here are a few recent examples of products we’ve developed as part of the I2C program.

• Vegan Chili Pie with Vegan Cheez Sauce
  Designed for a brand focused on plant-based comfort foods, this concept features our vegan Cheez concentrate, oat milk powder and lemon juice powder to deliver a rich, cheesy flavor that appeals to flexitarians and plant-based consumers alike. With “cheesy” claims growing 726% year-over-year, this concept hit the indulgent-but-vegan sweet spot.
• Dill Pickle & Cheese “Chickle” Sausage
  Created for a company targeting adventurous eaters, this sausage packs bold, tangy flavor with cheddar cheese concentrate, chipotle beer cheese seasoning and a stout pickle note. Think pickle meets grilled cheese then reimagined for a new generation of foodies. Grilled cheese, by the way, is trending up 200%+.
• Spicy Mac & Cheese Ramen
  For brands chasing Gen Z’s love of mashups and heat, we developed a spicy, cheesy ramen using Cheddar-Rich seasoning, lime powder and our Sparkling Hot flavor system. The result? A craveable, comfort-meets-kick experience that taps into Gen Z’s appetite for novelty and spice.

Whether you need fresh inspiration or fully developed concepts ready for scale-up, I2C is built to make innovation faster, easier, and more aligned with what your brand can actually produce.

Let’s cut your product development cycle—and launch something your customers will crave. Contact us today.

Contact us today to get started!

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