Big Heart Pet Brands is among 14 companies to receive Nielsen's 2014 US Breakthrough Innovation Award.

This is the third year that Nielsen has presented the award in the US. 2014’s product winners were all launched in 2012 and met the standards for distinctiveness, relevance and endurance in order to qualify. Nielsen analyzed over 3,400 new consumer product introductions which launched in the US in 2012 to determine which products demonstrated breakthrough results.

The full list of winners:

• Angry Orchard Hard Cider, The Boston Beer Co.
• Barcel Takis, Barcel USA
• Bud Light Lime Ritas, Anheuser-Busch
• Depend Silhouette Briefs for Women and Depend Real Fit Briefs for Men, Kimberly-Clark
• Febreze Car Vent Clip, Procter & Gamble
• Gevalia Kaffe Retail Coffee, Kraft Foods
• International Delight Iced Coffee, The WhiteWave Foods Co.
• Meow Mix Tender Centers, Big Heart Pet Brands
• Mucinex Fast-Max, Reckitt Benckiser
• Nabisco belVita Breakfast Biscuits, Mondelez Global LLC
• Nature Valley Protein Bars, General Mills
• Sargento Ultra Thin Slices, Sargento Foods
• Tide Pods, Procter & Gamble
• ZzzQuil, Procter & Gamble

"Given the very competitive marketplace and high new product failure rate, we celebrate the Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation winners’ extraordinary achievement,” said Rob Wengel, senior vice president, Innovation, Nielsen. “These diverse new products carry the common thread of finding and filling unmet consumer needs while demonstrating that with significant effort, game-changing innovation is possible in any category and by all types of companies.”