Dive Brief:

• Nielsen has released its annual list of innovative products, which single out new products that the company sees as having altered a category and having long-term potential. 
• The Breakthrough Innovation awards were given to 14 products that debuted in 2012 and continue to do well today. 
• Among the winners are Sargento Foods Ultra Thin Sliced cheeses, Boston Beer's Angry Orchard Hard Cider, and Mondelez' belVita breakfast biscuit. 

Dive Insight:

Nielsen's Breakthrough Innovation award is a bit of  breakthrough innovation of its own.

By looking for consumer products that manage to quickly establish and then expand a market, Nielsen seems to have discovered the secret sauce to a successful product launches -- resolving a problem or answering an aspiration.