Food For Naught: Microwave Ice Cream, Toaster French Fries

Flops, fizzles, fiascos.

The vast majority of new products launched in supermarkets each year end up in the failure heap, never to be seen again.

Well, almost never.

About 75,000 of them - some hits, but more misses - can be seen at Robert McMath's museum.

Stroll past McMath's display cases and you're looking at American food history of the past 25 years or so. But you don't just saunter into his New Products Showcase and Learning Center in Ithaca, N.Y. He charges $1,500 admission, and says there's no other collection like it in the world.

People who shell out the fee are mostly industry folks hoping to glean the secrets of success for new products. Besides seeing the collection, they get a personalized day-long clinic on their new-product plans.

TV viewers know McMath from appearances on the Johnny Carson and David Letterman shows, where he periodically empties a grab-bag of fizzled products and promising new arrivals.

The white-bearded McMath - all 6 feet 5 inches of him - recently visited the Seattle area, where three of his grown children live. He packed along a box of products that have died a quick death on supermarket shelves over the years. For instance:

-- A hot-fudge sundae product that was supposed to go in the microwave, heating the sauce but leaving the ice cream cold. It actually worked, but people didn't take to the idea of putting ice cream in an oven, McMath says.

-- Mrs. Smith's Electric French Fries. These were supposed to be heated in the toaster, but they tasted like sawdust, says McMath.

-- Gerber's Singles. The baby-food company introduced these adult entrees - things like beef burgundy - but made the mistake of packing them in baby-food-style jars. That confused people, and the product died.

McMath, 60, predicts the new Wonder Kids bread will suffer a similar fate. His scenario: Adults will buy Wonder Kids for their children, but won't eat it themselves. For themselves they'll buy some other brand, thus eating into the market for regular Wonder Bread, the country's top seller; the company will see the light and take Wonder Kids off the market.

Jolt cola, which hit the market in 1985, was another quick fizzle. Jolt promised "all the sugar and twice the caffeine" of ordinary soft drinks.

Jolt was a "protest product," a reaction to the health movement, says McMath. He thinks it failed in the U.S. largely because the producer didn't advertise. However, Jolt has been a hit in Japan and Canada, he said.

What's new that looks hot right now?

-- McMath likes the new Contadina Fresh Pizza, for which you can buy various toppings in separate packs.

-- And given the country's huge number of diabetics (including himself), he thinks Steel's Sugar-Free Hot Fudge Sauce stands a good chance of surviving.

McMath claims his predictions are right about 90 percent of the time. But he admits to at least one big flub.

"I missed on Prego Sauce," thinking Prego had no chance against such stand-by spaghetti sauces as Ragu.

"But (Prego) was a far better sauce than what Ragu was at that time," with greater thickness and more bits and pieces of vegetables - and consumers went for it, he says now.

For anyone thinking of launching a new product, McMath is not very encouraging.

"I would have to say that in my 40 years of monitoring new products, I've never known a time that is more difficult (than now) for someone wishing to make a mark in the retail market," he said.

The main reason? The vast numbers of products out there, many of them quite similar.

McMath's collection testifies to that. Included are about 3,000 to 4,000 condiments (such as 700 or so mustards), 5,000 to 6,000 beverages and 500 to 600 breakfast cereals. (He also has such nonfood items as health and beauty aids.)

Last year, said McMath, about 15,000 "consumer consumable" products hit the shelves; about 10,000 of them were food. The overall failure rate: 8 out of 10.

So why do individuals and companies keep trying? Because products that do well can be "extremely profitable," said McMath.