FAQ

What does Food Research Lab R&D Food Lab Offer?

Food Research Lab R&D Food Lab, a division of Guires, offers multiple areas of expertise for new food product development and recipe & menu development and standardization for food industries / manufacturing and restaurants. Our areas of expertise include new and existing product development, reverse engineering in the areas of listed, recipe and menu development and standardization for restaurants, Nutritional Label assessment and checks, nutrition testing, cooking instructions. As part of the new product development, we provide Shelf life assessment, Physical Testing, and Product Evaluation (which includes Product Performance and Sensory Evaluation).

Can we have periodic taste tests to ensure I am always aware and happy with the product? How often will I be able to taste, test and give feedback on the product?

Absolutely. We’ll send you the product for your review at a frequent agreed interval. Based on your feedback, we will make modifications and send you again for your review.

What is the importance of the shelf life study?

Shelf longevity and packaging are critical issues. Shelf life is the determination of how long a product will hold its quality as perceived by customers. The shelf life of a product is essential when considering distribution channels before reaching the consumer. However, we will conduct a basic shelf life of 90 days under refrigerated conditions and without refrigeration.

What is a sensory evaluation, and what is its importance?

Sensory evaluation could be carried out at different levels such as marketing, production and quality control. We will be carrying out sensory analysis according to the procedures by the relevant standards. The sensory evaluation will be carried out with different recipes, to ascertain whether any further product modifications are necessary.

What’s your process on supplier identification and sourcing of ingredients?

We need the best supplier and ingredients in order to formulate the product. Those ingredients will be initially procured from the local market and compare with the ingredients available in the client’s place where manufacturing is planned.  If there is any deviation, we run the formulation in both varieties & varying ingredients, processing parameters to find the best combination to create the desired product. Besides, ingredients will be checked for quality and costs effectiveness and based on that we will identify and decide one supplier. We will create tight product specifications, and the client can use this for identifying suppliers for large scale production. The product specifications should meet the international standards specific to them.

How do you check the feasibility of my proposed new product?

We will check the availability of ingredients (e.g., available for purchase year-round or seasonally) process and techniques to mimic the competitor product. This needs secondary research, and while reviewing the techniques to obtain the shape and consistency of the product, we might need to choose the best method based on the production costs, resources and time involved for final manufacturing. We also need to finalize the necessary equipment, facilities, and processes needed to manufacture a product (i.e., technologically feasibility). We will also share the final food preparation costs considering raw ingredients, fuel, electricity, utilities without packaging on post-completion of the project. In addition, the final product will be further tested with different local recipes to ascertain whether any further product modifications are necessary.

How do I send a sample?

Samples should be sent to our address at:

Food Research Lab R&D Food Lab

A Unit of Guires Solutions
No:10, Kutty Street, Nungambakkam

Chennai – 600 034

 

Samples can be submitted in person or through a mail or shipping carrier. Make sure to fill out the appropriate submittal form with clear and descriptive information for the sample description, sample ID, and estimates if available. Please include any special handling instructions for preparing, draining, or compositing samples, and any specific information you would like us to know about your samples. We recommend that you submit samples that are representative of your lot. If your samples are perishable, we recommend sending them overnight with dry ice or ice packs. Food Research Lab R&D Lab is not responsible for any samples submitted that are compromised during the shipment.

How many recipes will be used to test my product for tasting and palatability

Reply: We can do ‘n’ number of recipes as per your requirement. However, our concentration would be formulating a new product rather than coming up with recipes based on the product. We will work maximum 5-6 recipes and choice purely depend on the client’s interest and target consumers.

What is the proximate composition?

The proximate composition is also called nutrient and non-nutrient components present in the product. It includes Moisture, protein, fat, fibre, ash and carbohydrate content

What is a physiochemical assessment? What is the importance of this?

Food safety is concern (microorganisms’ growth and prevention), and therefore we will be carrying out basic challenge study (pH, colour, aroma) when producing processing parameters to ascertain whether these would promote the growth of microbiological organisms considering the remit of not having the option to add any artificial preservatives which would decide if any other products would have to cease to be developed

Accounting Questions

What forms of payment do you accept?

Food Research Lab R&D Food Lab accepts Visa, Mastercard, or check for payments.

Do you offer discounts?

Food Research Lab R&D Food Lab does offer discounts. The discounts we provide are reviewed on a yearly basis for sustaining work or are given to projects that have a minimum of 5 samples submitted. Please contact us if you have questions regarding discounts and we can assist you further.