As the growth curve in the cold food industry continues upward, movers seek to protect their share, big players in affected categories scramble to protect declines in their core and small, innovative brands ride the category wave and carve out their own niche.
As the category matures, however, it becomes more and more difficult for brands to stand out. By that point in the lifecycle, there are a handful of big players stealing share from one another with big advertising and aggressive price wars. This tends to have a commodity effect on the category, and encourages consumers to brand switch. Meanwhile, small players experience a double whammy, as they also get hit with a flurry of big brand extension activities.