Co-creation in new food development: Current trends, challenges, and future directions

• Review of studies between 2015 and 2025 on co-creation in food product development • All studies applied varied approaches of co-creation, limiting comparability • Few studies reached prototypes, limiting opportunities to test consumer acceptability • Focus groups work well for ideation, but should be combined with other methods • A co-creation framework for food development is proposed to guide new applications Consumer acceptance is important for the success of new food products (NFP), making it necessary that innovations align with consumer needs and preferences. Co-creation, which actively involves consumers and other stakeholders in the new product development (NPD) process, has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance both acceptance and market success. This review examined 16 studies published between 2015 and 2025 that applied co-creation in food NPD. Co-creation was most commonly applied in the early stages of NPD, such as idea generation and concept development, utilising various methods, including focus groups, workshops, and online discussions. Fewer studies progressed to prototyping and testing, highlighting a gap between co-creation in theory and practice. Some studies engaged multiple stakeholders, such as consumers working together with chefs, researchers, product developers or industry experts, while others focused only on consumers. All studies were conducted by multidisciplinary teams, reflecting the value of diverse expertise. Although methodological approaches varied across studies, making direct comparisons challenging, this diversity also reflects the flexibility of co-creation across different contexts. A new framework is proposed to guide how stakeholders, research goals, co-creation activities, and methods can be integrated across all stages of food NPD. Although a lot has been done to involve consumers during the different phases, in the end it is only an expectation that concepts or prototypes might meet the needs of consumers. Further research should be carried out to prove the effectiveness of the co-creative approach.