The challenge
Pilgrim’s Europe came to us with a serious ambition: a future-ready portfolio strategy that champions breakthrough, consumer-centric innovation and drives category leadership.
That meant getting a difficult balance right. The strength of the core business had to be protected and built on, while bold, longer-term growth opportunities were opened up. The plan also had to make the most of current site capabilities without being boxed in by them. In short, Pilgrim’s Europe needed a pipeline ambitious enough to lead the category and grounded enough to be delivered.
What we did
Trend mapping, data mining, growth platform development, workshop facilitation, proposition development, cross-functional validation and roadmap building, delivered in collaboration with tfp.
How we did it
We start with your challenge, not our methods, so we designed a bespoke Future Food process built specifically around the Pilgrim’s Europe brief rather than reaching for a standard template.
First, we combined trend mapping with data mining to understand where food is heading and where the credible growth spaces sit. The food world is full of trend reports, and most of them stay on the shelf. So rather than presenting trends as a long list, we shaped them into growth platforms: clear, evidenced territories the business could genuinely own, each connected back to category dynamics and commercial opportunity.
We layered in immersive consumer insight, because a pipeline only works if it is rooted in how people actually shop, cook and eat. With that foundation in place, we brought the Pilgrim’s Europe team together for an ideation and innovation workshop, turning insight into a rich bank of ideas with real commercial intent behind them. Getting cross-functional teams in one room, building ideas around great food, is where this kind of project comes alive.
Then came the discipline. Every idea went through rigorous cross-functional validation, pressure-tested against consumer appeal, commercial value and operational reality. Ideas that could not earn their place were parked. The strongest propositions were developed further and sequenced into a long-term roadmap, giving the business a clear view of what to launch, when and why, across near-term wins and bolder future plays.
What it delivered
A robust, future-forward innovation plan that protects the core while opening up breakthrough opportunities.
Pilgrim’s Europe now has a clear, actionable pathway to sustained growth, stronger consumer relevance and category leadership, with every step on the roadmap backed by evidence rather than instinct alone.
The roadmap does more than list ideas. It gives teams across the business a shared view of where growth will come from, what needs to be true for each opportunity to land, and how the portfolio evolves over time. That clarity is what turns an innovation plan into action.
It is the kind of project we love. Food is moving quickly, and the companies that win will be the ones that plan for where consumers are going, not where they have been. This work gave Pilgrim’s Europe exactly that head start.
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