All of the moving pieces that must come together to meet the new product launch date add up to take time. The devil of product development is truly in the details, and this is only a partial list.

• Marketing: Validating the concept; developing the business case; compiling photos for packaging, point of sale material and sales brochures; and validating the product.
• Operations: Assessing equipment needs, purchasing and testing equipment, producing the product for focus groups, and testing product quality consistency for product launch.
• Product development: Meeting the product's marketing requirements such as flavor, texture, size, serving size, claims; formulating the product components; and reformulating to meet consumer expectations.
• Regulatory: Testing and validating health claims, verifying ingredient legend, and generating a Nutrition Facts panel.
• Purchasing: Validating packaging size, specifying ingredients and securing quantities.
• Quality control: Setting product standards and specifications, monitoring market quality, and assessing consumer comments.