When it comes to partnering with a food ingredient company, manufacturers know the best relationships extend far beyond the ingredients themselves. The most successful pairing is one that brings highly customized ingredient solutions to meet the evolving needs of consumers. Whether it is developing specific product formulations to cater to dietary trends, enhancing flavor profiles or reinventing recipes, customization is key to staying ahead in today’s dynamic food landscape.

With Hormel Ingredient Solution’s team of protein experts, they understand that every product has its unique challenges and opportunities. Hormel Ingredient Solutions creates ingredient customization that enhances a product's taste, texture and nutritional value while adhering to industry regulations and consumer trends. By providing the customizations you require, Hormel Ingredient Solutions delivers solutions designed to exceed expectations and set your brand apart.

Collaborative Development

Innovation begins with collaboration. Hormel Ingredient Solutions partners with your R&D and product development teams to conceptualize and create products that fulfill your needs. By leveraging their expertise in food science, flavor development and ingredient functionality, they can bring your vision to life—Hormel Ingredient Solutions thrives on solving challenges and identifying opportunities for innovation to fuel your success.

Photo: Hormel Foods Corp.

Reformulating for Success

According to Mintel, for the first five months of 2024, just 35% of global CPG launches were genuinely new products.1 In addition to new product development, the team at Hormel Ingredient Solutions specializes in reformulating existing applications to optimize performance, improve nutritional profiles or adapt to changing market trends. Reformulation can address a variety of needs, including:

• Cost Optimization: adjusting ingredients to maintain quality while meeting cost-efficiency goals.

• Improved Nutrition: enhancing products with functional benefits such as increased protein, reduced sodium or allergen-free alternatives.

• Flavor Enhancement: modernizing or localizing flavors to cater to shifting consumer palates.

Extensive application expertise allows Hormel Ingredient Solutions to maintain or even elevate the product experience, ensuring that the reformulated version stays true to your brand promise while meeting the expectations of your customers.

Flexibility for Applications with Innovative Ingredients

With an expansive protein ingredient list, Hormel Ingredient Solutions delivers on versatility. Fully cooked meats make up much of their portfolio, with beef, pork, chicken and turkey all available in a variety of cuts and unique seasonings. A new line of diced fully cooked meats is available in specific cuts and sizes to address your protein needs. Manufacturers can maximize profitability with these ingredients due to reduced shrinkage, less waste and a longer product shelf life, all while getting consistent quality every time.

Outside of a fully cooked meats line, their product list also offers savory fats, stocks, broths and peanut butter to incorporate into your recipes.

With breadth of portfolio comes the solution for your application innovation. From snacks, ready-to-eat meals, frozen dinners, soups and savory dishes, this product portfolio is designed to meet many manufacturing and consumer demands. Want to reimagine a classic dish with a twist? Hormel Ingredient Solutions can do that. Premium ingredients make great pizza toppings, soup inclusions and quick snacks for hungry consumers. For more specific requirements, Hormel Ingredient Solutions can develop a customized formulation to make your application exactly the way it was envisioned.

For true customization, the protein experts have the capacity to support both small and large-scale manufacturing operations, working with companies of all sizes to ensure that needs are being met. That means they can provide smaller quantities of ingredients to test a new flavor application and then scale up when it flies off the shelf. The team can work with you to get the exact amount of ingredients you need to be successful.

Photo: Hormel Foods Corp.

What customization brings to the table

Mary Gray, associate brand manager for Hormel Ingredient Solutions, commented on the brand’s reputation, stating, “with decades in the protein industry, we pride ourselves on our commitment to reliability. In this competitive industry, brand reputation is everything and we stand by our promise.”

The team at Hormel Ingredient Solutions works hard to stay knowledgeable on the latest insights and industry trends to help your brand stand out in competitive markets. With R&D excellence and a team of protein experts assisting in product development and guidance through product development, Hormel Ingredient Solutions delivers tailored solutions that align seamlessly with your goals. Access to a comprehensive portfolio of premium ingredients, backed by Hormel Ingredient Solutions’ legacy of quality and innovation, ensures that you will find relevant solutions to all of your protein application needs.

In an industry with over 15,000 annual product launches,2 staying ahead of the trends and anticipating consumer needs is vital to being a major player. At Hormel Ingredient Solutions, customization without compromise means creating more applications that fit the needs of food manufacturers and consumers. Whatever the application question is, Hormel Ingredient Solutions’ team is ready to develop the solution that checks all the boxes.

Sources:

1. https://www.mintel.com/insights/consumer-research/role-of-innovation-future-cpg-industry/

2. https://www.ksre.kstate.edu/kvafl/resources/development.html#:~:text=About%2015%2C000%20new%20food%20products,food%20engineers%20and%20marketing%20experts