Why Choose Food Research Lab's FRL as Your Food Product Development (FPD) Consultant and Partner?

There are several options in almost every product area in today’s market, and the difficulty is in coming up with unique items that stand out and connect with customers. Food Research Lab's Food Research Lab takes a holistic approach to creating food and beverage products. We define, demographically target, and build effective goods through a sequential process for category selection and comprehension. The client can visit the lab to learn the process. We offer unlimited rounds of revisions to ensure customer satisfaction. The final product prototype, along with the documentation process, including the video (through email), will be shipped to the client, and in case the client is not satisfied with the video, a food technology consultant will visit the place for the product demo at the client’s costs.

What are the different forms that you deliver the Food Product Formulations?

The food industry is witnessing a new form of consumption. Keeping that in mind, we can formulate the products in the form of ready-to-eat, ready-to-drink, ready-to-mix, ready-to-serve, and ready-to-cook food products. We use ingredients that offer an added value to the development and improve its indulgence and sustainability in terms of its functional ingredients, plant-based food dyes, and natural preservatives with a clean label.

What are the sectors Food Research Lab cover?

We cover a wide range of sectors such as soups, sauces and dips, chips, tortillas, dry beverage powder, plant-based products, masalas, puddings, instant mixes and many more.

How is sensory testing been carried out?

Our sensory examination leads to the precise formulation and recipe recommendations. We develop data-driven design models based on sensory research and customer insights. The fact-based design methodology used by Food Research Lab reduces risk and gives our clients market confidence while cutting development time in half. With our dedicated sensory lab facility, our team takes satisfaction in creating and optimizing successful products in the marketplace, generating a favourable return on investment, and developing brand advocates.

Challenges faced by Plant-Based beverages formulators in US

Thumbnail - Plant based beverage formulators

07 Oct

Obstacles Facing US Formulators of Plant-Based Beverages

by Food Research Lab

in Beverages

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Introduction:

Worldwide, the market for plant-based alternatives is one of the fastest expanding segments in the functional and speciality beverage manufacturing company of newer food product development. Consumer interest in limiting their intake of animal-based foods is rising for ethical, environmental, and health reasons. The beverage manufacturing company is creating products from plant sources that replicate animal-based nutritive and sensory qualities with the help of plant-based beverage formulators.

According to a recent study published in Science of the Total Environment, the percentage of UK residents who report consuming plant-based alternatives almost multiplied between 2008-2011 and 2017-2019.

The University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) were partners in the investigation. It is thought to be the first examination of trends in the UK’s consumption of plant-based alternative foods (PBAF).

The USDA (United States department of agriculture suggests) the market for plant-based substitutes in the UK has proliferated in recent years, with a value increase of $1.6 billion at retail between 2016 and 2020. This creates a chance for frozen or shelf-stable American plant-based goods and chilled items if shipping (3–4 weeks) and shelf-life requirements can be satisfied.

Food Research Lab's (FRL) believes that the beverage is a convenient and easy way to transfer nutrition required for better health, and plant-based beverage formulators face various issues. Food Research Lab intends to provide solutions that will help US plant-based beverage formulators to overcome their problems and expand their business further.

The Issues That Plant Based Beverage Formulators Face

When joining the market, there are difficulties to take into account. It may be challenging and requires strict procedures to make claims about food goods being vegan and plant-based. Additionally, plant-based beverages sometimes have a long list of ingredients and might have a high sugar and plant sources in order to get the same flavour and texture. These elements may discourage customers from exploring and utilizing the items available in this industry. The flavour and texture of plant-based goods have significantly improved, yet many individuals still find it difficult to switch to plant-based beverages. Manufacturers can use this as both a challenge and an opportunity to concentrate on product innovation as they grow and compete in the plant-based industry. The solutions to this dilemma in beverage sector can be drawn only from integrating the knowledge of beverage formulation and consumer study.

The off-flavour, product stability, sensory acceptability and in addition to eliminating bad tastes, trypsin inhibitor degradation is a significant area of concern and is considered to contribute to pancreatic hypertrophy. They have a negative impact on human nutrition since they are known to impair protein absorption. The health is major concern in this swift change to plant based diet beverage formulators should give more importance to health factors and identify the key issues to rectify them and formulate anew.

Supporting the environment through plant-based beverages can improve sustainability, but still, the products are sold in materials like plastic bottles and cartons. This packaging material can pollute nature and hence calls for a sustainable package design which attracts the customer and causes no harm to the environment.

Solutions

Emulsifiers and stabilizers can help increase the stability of drinks made from plants. The stability of plant-based milk is governed by three factors: particle size, emulsion formation, and protein solubility. Depending on the kind of beverage, pH, and other factors, a stabilizer is chosen to increase emulsion stability.

The inactivation of enzymes, the elimination of off-flavours by deodorization, and the masking of off-flavours through the addition of artificial or natural flavourings are some solutions that are frequently used to address this issue. It is common knowledge that altering typical processing procedures to include stages like roasting, blanching, and soaking in alkaline environments has been shown to lessen the flavour of beany in milk derived from legumes, increasing consumer acceptance of the final product. The general acceptability of plant-based milk has also been demonstrated to rise with the addition of flavourings and sugar.

Since plant-based milk is a rich source of nutrients and an ideal platform for microorganism development, its rapid expansion has a negative impact on the quality of the milk. The potential of thermal technology, as well as other non-thermal ones like pulsed light and ultrasound, must thus be investigated for their ability to preserve plant-based beverages.

It is best if we work on new innovative packages that are attractive and eco-friendly to make that change which will lead to sustainability.