The Good Pulse Co.
The Good Pulse Co. aims to be a business-to-business company that provides a range of pulse-based ingredients (flours) for use in food products. Currently, as a prototype to demonstrate applications for their split-pea flour, they are developing a vegan cheese. The formulation uses coconut oil as the fat source, but they are keen to reduce this, in order to reduce the amount of saturated fat in the product.
The Food Innovation Centre helped us rapidly develop possible avenues in assessing proof of concept to reduce saturated fat in our product. The team researched, identified and sourced ingredient solutions to test via experimental trials. Excellent communication enabled efficient execution of the project and maximised collaborative output. We received concise actionable results, unlocking a lower saturated fat cheese product design. In fact, the great success of this project has energised us to undertake a second project with the FIC.
Project brief
The response
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Consultancy, in the form of a literature review, to cover, the major aspects of the formulation, interaction between ingredients and possible ways to go about reducing the coconut oil content in the formulation.
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Based on the above review, we trialled different ingredients/modifications to the process in the lab to reduce the saturated fat content.
- A rapid sensory session was conducted for each of the 11 prototypes with the company to profile each product.
- Syneresis and saturated fat content was decreased and other areas needing improvement were highlighted.
Benefit to the business
The business is currently in the NPD stage. From the NPD trails, valuable information was obtained on different strategies that could be employed to reduce saturated fat in the product. In addition to connecting them to and obtaining samples from different ingredient suppliers, we wer able to establish a range of potential prototypes that have different uses in the cheese category.
Project brief
The response
FIC used a rapid, practical approach for this project by developing a modified ‘napping’ rapid sensory protocol and microbiology testing schedule that could be used alongside empirical data from established laboratory bench top analysis that Good Pulse had already established.
- Packaging for the trials was standardised and a protocol for modified atmosphere packing was developed, along with validating their existing protocols and logs.
- Product Attributes were defined and rapid sensory protocol was developed and fine-tuned over the course of 6 weeks and weekly sessions were conducted to track how organoleptic attributes were changing to establish a cut-off / stabilisation point during shelf life.
- A Microbiological testing schedule was initiated alongside the sensory sessions to obtain microbiological stability and shelf life. Physical product measurements (texture, melt) were also taken weekly and correlated to rapid sensory data from the panel.
Benefit to the business
The project was a highly collaborative effort between the company’s food scientists and our Food Innovation Technologist, Kavya, with additional staff members who took part in the rapid sensory sessions. The business gained actionable data and know-how on the point of vegan cheese product attribute stabilisation during “curing” and aging which was important for discussions they were having with retailers, manufacturers and other potential customers. It also allowed them to plan production ahead of consumer facing tasting sessions and events, with the confidence that the product was validated for process, food safety and quality.
The second project we executed with the FIC was a highly collaborative effort, with the FIC and The Good Pulse Co. working hand in hand to create a benchmark product which has acted as a springboard for future NPD. Together, we achieved a step change in quality control for our sample product, allowing us to accurately understand our reformulations efforts moving forward and ultimately, deliver consistent high-quality samples to our customers.