Functional line of dairy proteins from Milk Specialties

Milk Specialties Global, Eden Prairie, Minn., offers BARsoft, its functional line of dairy proteins designed to provide a soft texture, optimal sensory experience and extended shelf life in high-protein nutrition bars. The soy-free line of ingredients is composed of whey and milk protein isolates to give superior nutrition and digestibility to snack bars. According to the company, it has excellent pliability and may last on shelves for up to a year with reduced browning and hardening.

Solutions are available for all types of bars, baked or extruded style, and to fit a variety of nutritional requirements.

TIC Gums offering clean label options for sauces, dressings

As consumer trends continue to focus on clean label products, terms such as natural, non-G.M.O., free-from and organic are becoming mainstream. Sauce and dressing applications rely on stabilizer systems to provide shelf and freeze/thaw stability, viscosity, resistance to flow, mouthfeel and other textural characteristics necessary to the end product.

To meet this need, White Marsh, Md.-based TIC Gums has combined consumer trends, stability requirements and hydrocolloids knowledge to offer a portfolio of clean label solutions for sauces and dressings. The hydrocolloids meet multiple requirements such as natural, certified organic and non-G.M.O.

The company also developed a Quick Reference Guide to help streamline the hydrocolloid selection process for sauces and dressings formulations. The guide breaks down the sauces and dressings category by type and provides hydrocolloid recommendations, features and beginning usage levels.

Bunge and Solazyme expand joint venture

South San Francisco, Calif.-based Solazyme and Bunge Ltd., White Plains, N.Y., announced an agreement to expand their joint venture to include a focus on food. The expansion includes a range of breakthrough oils. It will build on Solazyme’s microalgae innovation platform and on Bunge’s global leadership in food and ingredients, including vegetable oils.

The partners also entered into an agreement to expand their co-funded research programs to include new products in nutrition and specialty fats. Manufacturing will take place at their São Paulo, Brazil, plant.

As part of the agreement, AlgaWise Ultra Omega-9 Algae Oil, AlgaWise High Stability Algae Oil and AlgaWise Algae Butter structuring fats will be marketed by Bunge’s global food oil sales and applications team. In addition, Bunge will handle oil processing and supply chain aspects of commercialization.

New natural milk solution supports maternal health

Infant formula and baby food manufacturers may now tap into the maternal nutrition market with a solution developed by Arla Foods Ingredients, Viby J, Denmark.

The company’s maternal nutrition solution contains three milk ingredients that provide the building blocks needed to support the well-being of both the mother-to-be and her developing baby:

Lacprodan whey protein is a high quality protein from milk that promotes satiety, helps to manage blood sugar levels and is easy to digest, while also supporting the development of maternal tissue and the unborn child;
Capolac minerals is a concentrate of minerals from milk that supports the development of bones and teeth in the baby and reduces the risk of complications during pregnancy, as well as minimizing loss of bone mass in the expectant mother; and
Lacprodan PL-20 milk phospholipids is a phospholipid-rich concentrate of milk proteins containing gangliosides, which supports early brain development in the unborn baby.
The maternal nutrition solution is ideal for protein bars that will resonate with mothers-to-be who are busy and need a healthy snack on the go.

More competition for out-of-home breakfast dollars

Competition for share of stomach has never been greater. One of the hottest areas of new competition is in prepared food offerings at retail. Convenience stores and supermarkets are expanding food service offerings to hold onto their share of stomach as the balance of food dollars teeters more toward away-from-home food preparation. In the latest installment of Incredible Breakfast Trends, the American Egg Board, Park Ridge, Ill., examines the new competition and how it’s affecting where Americans eat breakfast.

Convenience store operators are capitalizing on breakfast’s popularity to transform people stopping for gas on the way to work into breakfast consumers. Mintel’s 2015 report, Convenience Store Foodservice,
found 32% of those surveyed purchased a made-to-order breakfast sandwich at a convenience store in the last three months. Grab-and-go is still a required part of the c-store equation, so premade sandwiches are a must to capture customer attention. But made-to-order has become important in building relationships with new customers, especially millennials.

Additionally, “grocerants,” defined as grocery stores selling wide arrays of prepared meals, either for eating on site or taking home, are flourishing. According to NPD, while quick-service restaurant dinner sales have declined, eating dinner at grocery stores rose to 1.8 billion visits annually in 2014.

“Recently we’ve seen food manufacturers launching many innovative breakfast items from breakfast sandwiches to breakfast bowls,” said Elisa Maloberti, director of egg product marketing for the American Egg Board. “There’s quite a bit of development activity in this area, so it’s not surprising to see retailers expanding their prepared food offerings into breakfast.”

SupHerb Farms new products respond to customer demand

Over the past decade the demand for organic ingredient options, clean label ingredients and authentic flavor profiles have driven the top ingredient trends. To fulfill customer real-time ingredient needs, SupHerb Farms, Turlock, Calif., has launched two new product lines and introduced a new specialty chili pepper.

Indigenous to Peru, Aji Amarillo chili peppers mature to a deep orange color and have a unique fruity flavor with medium, mellow heat.

“These two new product formats — diced and pureed — expand how this popular pepper will be used in applications,” said Scott Adair, executive chef for SupHerb Farms. “Our attention to detail and processing allows us to capture the vibrant flavor, spiciness and color of Aji Amarillo chili peppers.”

Pure from SupHerb Farms non-acidified purees are designed for manufacturer production protocols that do not require acidified ingredients. The line includes garlic, roasted garlic, ginger and lemon grass flavors.

Organic IQF Herbs include cilantro, basil and parsley. The organic line guarantees the same flavor and functional characteristics as the company’s original IQF line of herbs: fresh frozen, ready-to-use, customization options, safety tested and year-round availability.

Steviva Ingredients launches CocoSweet+

Portland, Ore.-based Steviva Ingredients has introduced an addition to its line of natural, high-intensity sweeteners: CocoSweet+. The product is composed of coconut sugar and water-extracted stevia. The blend of the two sweeteners delivers a clean flavor profile with hints of honey or caramel, and a mouthfeel comparable to sugar.

“While stevia may be used alone, it is best used in a combination,” said Thom King, president of Steviva Ingredients. “The proprietary blend of stevia and coconut sugar in CocoSweet+ gives food and beverage manufacturers greater flexibility to create clean label, reduced-sugar products with extraordinary sweetness profiles.”

It is designed for beverages and sweet baked goods such as cookies and biscuits. The ingredient’s mild caramel flavor and ability to build viscosity pairs well with flavored dairy, teas and chai. Additionally, coconut sugar has a glycemic index of just 35. Combined with stevia, the glycemic index is further reduced because smaller amounts of sweetener are required in applications.

According to the company, another benefit of coconut sugar is a robust nutritional profile. Coconut sugar contains vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. Its high mineral content includes potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron.

The product is G.M.O.-free, allergen-free and kosher certified. It is available in 25-kg poly-lined boxes and 1,000-kg totes.