Food Processing - May 2008 - (Page 35)

U-1014 CONVEY FEED BATCH 9/14/06 1 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT entrepreneur or an established manufacturer of food products, the process of developing and successfully marketing new food products needs to be carefully considered. Outsourcing all or a portion of the process required for product development can help manage the extra resources needed to bring a new product to store shelves.” Michaelides defines the considerations critical to both product development and the establishment of a need for the new product: • Continuous supply and availability of the ingredients: Many ingredients may be seasonally available on a commercial basis, for instance, fresh fruits and vegetables. In that case, production in a short season must supply customers for the whole year. Good examples of seasonal limitations are condiments or pickles. • Cost of the ingredients: How will they affect the competitiveness of the product in the market? • Justification of the product: Is the product so superior that it will justify the increased cost, and can that cost be recovered by the selling price? Does the product fit in an upscale market? • Production: Is the process of production compatible with the current equipment in the facility, or is the additional equipment or new technology needed affordable? • Scaling up: Once a lab-scale prototype is produced, scale-up using pilot plant equipment if possible must be done before plant or co-packer trials. Adjustments to formulation and process can be done at this stage, saving possibly thousands of dollars for plant trials. • Co-packing: Will a co-packer be used? If so, formula identity protection must be considered. • Regulatory restraints: Are there any regulatory constrains in getting the Convey a broad range of bulk solids to/from multiple discharge/ inlet points with Flexicon’s positive pressure or vacuum dilute-phase Pneumatic Conveying Systems. Fully integrated with your process. general mills created its worldwide innovation network (g-win) to prioritize looking outside the company for product ideas. gogurt fizzix carbonated yogurt in a tube was the result of collaboration between general mills and brigham Young University, which a few years back developed a “sparking yogurt” that it sold on campus. Feed free- and non-free-flowing bulk solids from large pellets to sub-micron powders in any direction, around obstructions, over short or long distances, with no separation of blends, dustfree at low cost, with Flexicon Flexible Screw Conveyors. product in the market (both domestic and export)? • Meeting customer demand: If the product is mainstream, can it supply a large customer’s demand given present processing equipment and facility? • Shelf life: What is the product’s shelf life? • Ingredient safety: When manufacturing new ingredients, is this ingredient a “novel ingredient,” as defined by Health Canada? If so, its safety and efficacy must be determined. “If your product appears viable, you need to start thinking about what you will need to create the product. During your evaluation, be proactive. Consider the [above] factors and then establish whether you have the resources to address that particular issue or whether additional resources will be needed. This exercise will help you determine where in the process you will need to partner with an outside organization for assistance,” says Michaelides. “Outsourcing is not only helpful when managing your resources, but can also bring new thinking to your project,” he adds. “Applying technologies or knowledge from other categories can create new efficiencies and novel products.” It can also bring to light possible pitfalls in the process and ultimately save your organization money. Batch multiple bulk materials by weight from nearby or distant plant locations, blend the batch and discharge/ convey it automatically with Flexicon Weigh Batching and Blending Systems. Unload free- and non-free-flowing solids from bulk bags automatically with Flexicon Bulk Bag Unloaders. Untie full bags, retie partially empty bags and collapse empty bags— all dust-free. Available with weigh batching controls. Fill bulk bags with free- and non-free-flowing bulk solids with Twin-Centerpost™, Rear-Post and Swing-Down™ Bulk Bag Fillers. Available with numerous performance enhancements for low to high capacity applications. more on the web our web site has a resource center devoted to ingredients & formulation (see the left side navigation bar). typing “product development” into the search bar will get you 521 results, including stories on sensory evaluation, how mars and tyson approach product development and three white papers. there’s an entire chapter of a blackwell publishing/ift book “Accelerating new food product design and development.” You’ll also find the unabridged results of this year’s (and past years’) Annual r&d survey (story on p.22). www.foodprocessing.com New CD ROM 1 888 FLEXICON sales@flexicon.com ® U-1014 .com http://www.flexicon.com http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - May 2008

Food Processing - May 2008 Editor’s Plate NewsBites The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Product Developer turned Bean Counter The top-selling new products of 2007 The open road Back to the Big Easy Managing the global plant A new column with answers to your plant-fl oor questions New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - May 2008

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