Today, things are rather different in the food market from the produce that was available a few decades ago.
While
some familiar flavours and textures endure, the market is now defined
by a constant stream of new flavours and textures allowing the food
product development universe to expand in every direction.
Product
development teams are seeing a new landscape of possibilities and
behind this is growing consumer adventurousness. The broadening appetite
for new flavours and textures stems from the exposure consumers now
have to diverse food and drink cultures created by increased mobility,
prosperity and the media-rich world. Younger consumers in particular are
keen to seek out new flavours and textures and represent such an
important target segment in this booming area of food product
development.
Stable Micro Systems have launched the Unconfined Yield Stress Rig for the measurement of powder flowability.
In
industries that handle powders on a regular basis it is very important
to understand how a powder or granular material responds to pressure. In
storage, the weight of powder in a container exerts pressure on the
particles at the bottom. If the powder has good flow behaviour it will
not consolidate and will flow out of the silo or hopper without sticking
– this is very desirable. The longer a powder is stored for, the more
likely it is to form a cake in its hopper and refuse to flow without
further assistance.
Choosing the optimum texture analysis test method to measure your new texture creations
Exciting new food textures will be among the emerging trends over the next three years,
together with more ‘playful’ products for adults and more widespread
use of edible packaging, according to a leading food futurologist.
Successful
chefs have realised that to be at the top of their game they need to
create new culinary experiences using a combination of unusual tastes,
textures and theatrical twists to give the eating experience a new
multi-sensory dimension. This is enabled by a variety of new high-tech
equipment, adjusted traditional preparation techniques and a handful of
clever chemicals. The myriad of gelling ingredients available to
formulate such texturally amazing products is endless which means there
is virtually no limit to the vast variety of food products that can be
configured.
The development of cosmetics for release into a competitive market is a high cost endeavour,
so it would be inefficient for these high stakes products to be shipped
in low quality packaging, or for the container to degrade during its
shelf life.
Packaging is the first thing the customer sees
in the shop so from this point of view the graphics and physical design
are important to make it stand out amongst other similar products; the
appearance of packages can directly affect marketing. However, the main
purpose of packaging is to ensure the product arrives in a customer’s
hands in perfect condition and to prevent any losses caused by shipping,
handling or storage.
Stand-up
flexible pouches are in vogue all over the world and according to
experts are set to experience high growth in the future, too.
There
are many reasons for this. They are attractive to consumers and easy to
handle to transport, for instance. They were very much led by the
squeezable baby fruit sauce packages but now when we observe the retail
food shelves, we see ketchup, mayonnaise, wine, salsa, honey, juice,
premixed cocktails, and a host of fluid food products in stand-up
flexible pouches.
A pair of tights is usually put on with a certain amount of stretching, and fingernails or
jewellery often snags on a single thread that will turn into a run or
“ladder” once the leg is applying stress to the tights.
Additionally,
a ladder may be caused during the working day, such as a snag occurring
when the tights are pushed against the underside of a desk. This can
greatly inconvenience the wearer as it appears unprofessional and they
may not have a spare pair. It can also be expensive.
Cosmetics
companies! Can you say with confidence that a product your customer
buys in bulk today will have the same excellent qualities they expect
from your brand when they open it in six months’ time?
If not, you need to start stability testing, pronto.
Stability
testing is simply the assessment of the lasting power of a cosmetic,
during which samples of it are put under different environmental
conditions for a set time period, and its properties analysed. These
conditions vary in light, temperature, pressure and humidity levels and
are designed to imitate what the product may be subjected to during its
lifetime.
Shellfish
has a characteristically chewy texture; to create a convincing
comminuted product, manufacturers need to imitate this.
In texture analysis terms, chewiness is measured by elasticity. High elasticity produces an item with a rubbery consistency (Figure 7) whereas low elasticity creates an undesirably brittle product.
