Best Practices
Turning Employees into Consumer Feedback
Internal Yogurt Testing in Costa Rica
The Innovation team led an internal initiative to recruit Sigma employees who are Greek yogurt consumers to participate in a prototype test, accelerating concept validation and generating valuable insights to strengthen readiness for external consumer testing.
Using Internal Consumers in Early RACU Experiments
When could we use this?
In the early stages of experimentation of the RACU, when uncertainty is high, testing with employees who match the target consumer profile serves as a learning accelerator, helping refine ideas before investing in external consumer studies, not replacing them.
Which are the benefits?
Faster, Smarter Learning at Lower Risk
Testing with internal consumers accelerates learning and iteration, enabling teams to refine concepts in days instead of weeks while reducing cost, risk, and rework before external testing.
Stronger Concepts Before External Validation
Internal feedback surfaces gaps and misalignment early, leading to clearer concepts, sharper hypotheses, and more robust prototypes for external consumer testing.
Greater Employee Engagement in Innovation
Involving employees as consumers boosts engagement and loyalty while fostering cross-functional collaboration and shared ownership of innovation outcomes.
Be careful with
Remember, use internal consumer tests as learning filters, not go/no-go decisions, external tests are the true decision gates.
Innovation thrives within communities. Share your experiences with us, and we’ll feature your insights in upcoming editions. Let’s build together!
Send an email to: innovation@sigma-alimentos.com
“ Engaging internal consumers gives us early, real reactions that help us move beyond assumptions, iterate faster, and design what external consumers truly expect.”
Gaby Acuña
CAM Innovation
macuna@sigma-alimentos.com
Innovation summit
Remember, Creativity is a Muscle
Are you exercising it?
Here’s a short clip from Mitch Carter’s talk at the Innovation Summit, where she challenges us to stretch our imagination and strengthen our creative discipline.
And to take you from inspiration to action. Here’s a creativity exercise to try with your team:
The 30 Circles Challenge
A fast, energizing activity to unlock ideas, break patterns, and warm up your creative muscles.
Are you ready to train your imagination?
Takeaways
- Creativity is something everyone has, it grows with constant practice
- Include leadership teams in the ideation process
- Changing spaces, rituals, and ways of working unlocks creativity
Breaking news
The Studio in Action
In December, the Sigma–IDEO partnership delivered its first market project: the relaunch of NocheBuena Butter, now with a heat-resistant formula ideal for cooking. This consumer-driven innovation delivered strong results, achieving above expected sales.
Powerful Insights generates Amazing Products
Passionate chefs are forced to watch the pan instead of cook. We observed people who went so far as to create their own hacks by adding oil to butter. Great flavor shouldn’t be this hard.
Explore the campaign on NocheBuena’s Instagram.
