The framework uses AI to identify where consumer demand is building for a product, whether product activity is keeping pace with that demand and where any emerging opportunities lie.

Mintel said that the framework would help innovation teams with strategic decision making and decisions on where to invest in innovation.

Rachel Arndt, senior director at Mintel Consulting, said: “Brands have always tried to connect consumer demand with what is happening in the market, but the process has often relied on an ‘insight plus insight’ approach, where teams interpret demand signals and category analysis separately before stitching them together.”

Arndt added that the framework would not replace category expertise  but give innovation teams “a stronger starting point for strategic judgement, reflecting a broader shift in market research from generating more insight to building measurable decision systems that help brands prioritise where to invest”.