Innovation in Food Products: First-mover Strategy and Entropy Metrics

The objective of this research is to investigate food product innovation in the context of the first-mover strategy among food manufacturers within agrifood supply chains. The emphasis of the analysis is on developing a useful metric for tracking new product development in the context of first-mover strategy. Entropy is introduced as a novel and useful means of examining first-mover strategy and new product development (NPD) in general. Understanding the complexities of the first-mover strategy and tracking NPD with entropy metrics holds promise for enhancing the analysis of agrifood supply chains and assisting firms in deciphering broad strategies of their rivals.