Innovation is Often What's Long Overdue

It's less about "new" flavors and more about how we pack, pour, or purchase

A new flavor is not an innovation; it’s a line extension. It adds a choice, but it rarely solves a problem. 💡

In the beverage industry, true innovation transforms how we pack, pour, or purchase.¹ It’s about solving friction. Some of the most impactful breakthroughs aren’t technically advanced—they are just overdue.

Consider the “delay” of obvious ideas in other domains:

• Wheels on Luggage 🧳 We landed on the moon (1969) before we thought to put wheels on a suitcase (1970). The modern version with the telescoping handle wasn’t invented until 1987!²

• Pantone 🎨 A system for matching color didn’t exist until the early 1960s, long after we had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA (1953) and developed the polio vaccine (1955).³

• The High Five 🙏 This universal gesture wasn’t even popularized until the late 1970s.⁴

Innovation can be a new distribution model, a functional packaging shift, or a data-sharing tool for retailers. It’s about noticing the “unobvious” solution hiding in plain sight.

If it doesn’t fix a headache for a bartender, a distributor, or a consumer, it isn’t an innovation—it’s just another SKU.

Stop looking for the next “Spicy Watermelon.” Start pursuing wheels on suitcases. 🚀

1. Here’s a little Easter egg, for those who venture to read these footnotes: the man in the above image is Erik Wallenberg, inventor of the Tetra Pak.

2. For more on why it took so long to get to this innovation, check out this fascinating short video that explores multiple explanations.

3. A recently released film, The King of Color, documents the story of Lawrence Herbert and his quest to capitalize on standardizing color.

4. For more, check out this 30 for 30 Short: The High Five.