Integrating Customers and Suppliers in Retail Co-innovation: Mercadona, the Spanish grocery retailer, uses a co-innovation approach in which customers and suppliers collaborate to create new products

[EN] The retail grocery sector is not a leader in new product development due to inherent innovation risks and retailers' complex relationships with suppliers. Product co-innovation is an effective way to overcome innovation barriers and is feasible when retailers collaborate with customers and suppliers. We present a case study of Mercadona, a leading retailer in Spain that introduces new products developed using a novel co-innovation approach where customers and suppliers collaborate in innovation hubs from the start of the ideation phase. Other companies can learn from Mercadona's innovation journey over the last 20 years.