Neither a good product nor a big budget guarantees a launch works. Coordination does.
More than three in four new FMCG product launches fail in their first year, according to Nielsen research reported by Marketing Week. In my experience, that is rarely a product problem. Even brands with serious marketing budgets get this wrong: Innocent pulled its entire dairy-free range in 2023, five years after launching it, on poor sales. It ticked every trend box and still never cut through at the moments that mattered.
Why does a food product launch need more than a good product?
A launch has a lot of moving parts that all have to land in the same week: food safety and labelling sign-off, a media list built weeks in advance, samples reaching the right journalists and creators before the embargo lifts, and a retail listing date that matches your press date. Miss one of these and the rest of the plan does not matter. That is what this template is built to prevent.
What is in the template?
It is a working document, not a guide to read and put in a drawer. Fill it in and use it. It is built around four phases:
- 8 to 12 weeks out: confirm your story angle, start food safety and labelling sign-off, check the calendar for seasonal hooks or clashes, decide your exclusive strategy, and brief internal stakeholders and the retail team
- 4 to 6 weeks out: build your trade, consumer food and regional press media lists, confirm your influencer and creator outreach list, book product photography and video assets, and set your embargo date
- Launch week: send the release or land the exclusive, dispatch samples, confirm your retail listing date matches your press date, and run your social amplification schedule across the week rather than dumping it all on day one
- Post-launch: log every piece of coverage, follow up with retailers on sell-through data, seed reviews from your sampling list, repurpose your best coverage into evergreen content, and hold a coverage review meeting four weeks out
It also includes a media list tracker and a coverage tracker, so you are not rebuilding a spreadsheet from scratch every time you launch something new.
What does this look like in practice?
Primula’s 2024 “Squeeze” relaunch is a good example of what a coordinated launch requires. After a three-year absence from TV, Primula returned with new packaging and a brand-new 30-second TV advert, backed by print, digital media, POS, social and PR, all timed to land alongside the new packs hitting supermarket shelves. Getting a launch like that right depends entirely on the retail listing date, the media plan and the creative all landing in the same window, which is precisely the coordination problem this template is built to solve.
This is the same structure I bring to every food and drink launch at Prohibition, whether that is a spreadable cheese relaunch or a new product hitting shelves for the first time.
How do you use this template?
Assign an owner and a deadline to every task from the start. A checklist nobody owns does not get done. Keep the media list and coverage trackers open and updated in real time through launch week rather than trying to reconstruct them afterwards, and hold the post-launch review meeting even if the launch went well. That is usually where the insight for your next one comes from.
Get the free template
Click below and I will send you the Food Product Launch PR Plan Template, the exact working document I use with clients, ready to fill in for your next launch. This template is part of the same approach behind our food PR and product launch PR work.
Free template. Takes 20 seconds. No obligation.
FAQs
How far in advance should you start planning a food product launch?
Start 8 to 12 weeks out. Food safety and labelling sign-off alone can take longer than most brands expect, and media lists need building well before your embargo date.
Why do most new food and drink products fail?
Usually not the product itself. More than three in four new FMCG launches fail in their first year, and the common thread is poor coordination between the retail listing date, the press date and the wider marketing plan, rather than product quality.
What should a food product launch media list include?
Trade press, consumer food press and regional press, plus a separate influencer and creator outreach list. Each needs a different pitch and often a different timeline.
Is this template only for big brands?
No. The structure scales down as easily as it scales up. A small brand launching one new flavour needs the same coordination as a major relaunch, just with a shorter media list.
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