Radical Product Innovation in the New Zealand Food and Beverage Industry: The Effect of Company Age, Size, and Foreign Ownership

This paper presents some results of a broader empirical study that examined radical product innovation determinants in the New Zealand food and beverage (F&B) industry involving 137 F&B companies. Radical product innovation is defined as the introduction of a new product that involves a new-to-market core technology and core value proposition and is an important driver of company growth and new market creation. Three company characteristics-the age, size, and the ownership base-that are posited to influence product innovativeness are investigated. The results show that the company age and size have an effect on product innovativeness. However, the two factors did not show a two-way interaction, implying that their effects are additive. The findings are important because companies grow in size as they age and often attract capital investment from foreign countries.