< Previouswww.fdiforum.net NPD 20 B roadly speaking, there are two types of functional ingredient. Firstly, those that alter or achieve product texture, shelf life or stability – such as a thickening or raising agent – and, secondly, those with nutritional benefit such as those providing a protein boost or fortifying a product with vitamins, fibre or protein. As consumers search for healthier food choices, and new legislation sees companies ramping up their reformulation and NPD efforts, functional ingredients will become increasingly commonplace, even industry standard. The growth in clean label and the need for natural products, meanwhile, has led to a shift in ingredients such as thickeners and texturisers and food makers looking to appeal to shifting tastes and changing regulations. Often, it’s not the whole product that’s the issue, but rather one or more of its ingredients. One need only look at palm oil to see that much. So it is with sugar, which along with salt and saturated fat, continues to be one of the industry’s biggest issues. To try and combat sugar levels and safeguard public health, the UK officially introduced its Soft Drinks Industry Levy back in April 2018, following the lead of countries like Mexico where a sugar tax The healthy craze Health foods, protein-rich options and vegan alternatives; the rush for healthier products and more clarity of ingredients has led to a wide push of new products and new product development. www.fdiforum.net NPD 21 was reported to have cut sugar consumption by six per cent in its first year. Considering that Mexicans consume more carbonated drinks per person than any other nation, this was no small feat. For many, this was evidence that the sugar tax worked and should be deployed in other countries post haste. Others claimed that it reduced consumption by such a marginal amount, it seemed hardly worth it. Whatever your own opinions on the merits and effectiveness of this approach, one thing is certain, moving away from sugar is a priority for consumers, the industry and governments alike. Natural sweeteners made from the stevia plant are at the forefront of the quest for a healthier alternative but are a long way off usurping sugar in terms of taste and functionality. Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose may come with fewer calories, but uncertainty surrounds its long-term effects on the body. Researchers at the Federal University of Sao Paulo conducted a study and discovered a link between artificial sweeteners and low fertility rates – evidence, if it were needed, to move towards more natural alternatives. © stock.adobe.com/Alexander Raths 22 Áwww.fdiforum.net NPD 22 The miracle berry (or Synsepalum dulcificum, to give its Latin name) contains Miraculin, a protein which suppresses sourness to draw out a sweet flavour and is renowned for making Guinness taste like chocolate milkshake and vinegar taste like sweet sherry. While this phenomenon is certainly entertaining, the berry has numerous uses that extend well beyond its novelty factor. It could, for example, give healthier foods a more appealing flavour profile, whilst lowering sugar in others and all without the need for sweeteners, artificial or otherwise. Fortified foods provide a nutritional boost to food and beverage products, whether it’s a protein-packed bread, a botanical-loaded soft drink or a breakfast cereal fortified with fibre. Many such products purport to be a key part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so the logical next step is to develop foods which can actively assist or medicate the body. Nutraceuticals refers to a product or ingredient that is derived from food sources that comes with extra health benefits. Harnessing these benefits and developing products that can cater to specific illnesses is leading to the burgeoning pharma foods market. Gluten-free foods can enable sufferers of celiac disease to enjoy foods they would otherwise be unable to, while speciality sweets allow diabetes sufferers to enjoy a treat without causing a spike in their blood sugar levels. Imagine then, a food product can help to medicate and maintain a disease like diabetes. Big food companies are already investing millions of dollars in research and development in this very field, making a fringe idea very much a reality. Already, there is a convergence between big pharma and food, with many of the top food brands actively engaging in the sciences. Brands like Nestlé have scientific divisions on top of their R&D departments. The reality is that the future of food is intrinsically tied to health and lifestyle, and rather than contributing towards illnesses, our food choices can help to cure and maintain it. But these products don’t come without their own unique set of challenges. Gluten- free products, for example, pose an ingredient challenge because they require substitute binders or thickeners, such as Xanthan gum. This gum is used to trap air to make batters light and fluffy, but it is difficult to uniformly disperse. Today, countless new ingredients and formulations are constantly being introduced. Whether adding new flavours or proteins or attempting to make recipes healthier or lower in calories, the industry is constantly evolving. This is often not a challenge to mixing technology, but a test of applications experience. Process Expandyourbusiness,attractnewcustomers,and makeapositiveimpactbyofferinghalal-certified products.Contactustodaytolearnmoreabout howwecanhelpyoutosuccessfullyintegrate halalproductsintoyourbusiness. GLOBALLY RECOGNISED HALAL CERTIFICATION BODY 0044(0)2084467127 www.halalfoodauthority.com EXPLORE NNEEWWMMARRKKEETTS info@halalfoodauthority.com www.fdiforum.net NPD 23 challenges arise when attempting to disperse the variety of ingredients (including gums, gelatins, CMC, pectins, etc.) used to make smooth, thick fillings, coatings and glazes. Turning towards the latest trends in the food industry gives some indication to what we’ll be eating in the future. Functional ingredients are prescient, and the current exploration of natural sweeteners, fortified ingredients and ever more innovative machinery to better disperse and incorporate natural thickeners and texturisers will come to define our plates in the decades to come. © stock.adobe.com/asiandelightwww.fdiforum.net SUPPLY CHAIN 24 S tartups and established companies the world over are diving headfirst into developing new technologies, in their continuous efforts to improve the food supply chain from farm to fork. Research and integration in areas such as precision agriculture and food waste reduction not only means faster, more reliable production of a higher quality, but also advancements in shifting our environmental impact from the negative to the positive. These examples of eco-friendly innovation go to show something vital. When we work with the earth that provides such vast quantities of our food, what we eat and drink can leave our bodies and minds feeling equally healthy, in the knowledge that we’re doing the best for ourselves and our environment. Explorations into precision farming, and alternative agriculture which uses less energy for greater output, are quite literally at the roots of the industry’s ongoing optimisation of farming practices. Tools such as robotics and data analysis are helping to optimise crops and improve efficiency, all while reducing the environmental harm that needs to be uncoupled from industrial level farming in general. Remote sensing, which has come on in leaps and bounds since the basic aerial and satellite imagery of the 1970s, can now be counted on to collect data on crop health and weather conditions with drones and unmanned aerial vehicles. This can include data on soil moisture, temperature and nutrient levels, as The step in the supply chain Innovative technologies have long been essential to the agri-food supply chain, across Great Britain and internationally. But at the heart of the current movement for precision, efficiency and transparency is a drive for sustainable processes that are healthier for all life on Earth. www.fdiforum.net SUPPLY CHAIN 25 well as imagery to help identify problem areas in fields. Further autonomous equipment, such as tractors and harvesters, help farmers increase efficiency by reducing labour costs and allowing for more precise control over planting and harvesting, and this control becomes even more detailed with the incorporation of machine learning algorithms. Intelligence like this can help analyse large amounts of data, making predictions about a multitude of variables including crop yields, weather patterns, health of produce and the likelihood of disease outbreaks. Farmers are then empowered to make more informed decisions about when and how to plant, fertilise, irrigate and harvest using this information, leading to higher yields, lower costs and more sustainable farming practices. Autonomous vehicles can be employed at either end of the supply chain, as drones and self-driving cars can reduce the delivery times and costs of any produce farmed or processed. Many such vehicles which require less power and boost cargo space are being tested by large supermarkets, and have the potential to transform the distribution aspect of the food supply chain. Great strides have also been made in the approach to hydroponic farming. This method requires far less land than traditional farming, as it can be accomplished with a nutrient-rich solution instead of soil, and used to grow © stock.adobe.com/VicenSanh 26 Áwww.fdiforum.net SUPPLY CHAIN 26 plants vertically, using trellises or stacking systems for an increase in the number of plants that can be grown in a given area. It’s also highly versatile, being a fitting environment for growing many leafy greens, fruits, vegetables and herbs. While the plants are grown in a controlled environment, such as a greenhouse, the nutrients are delivered directly to the plant roots through a system of tubes or channels. This direct-to-root delivery system uses significantly less water than traditional soil- based farming, which requires watering of an entire surrounding area of soil. The advantages in this method go even further into year-round growing, due to the controlled environment which permits artificial lighting and temperature controls, and the added benefit of reduced need for pesticides or other potentially harmful chemicals. Alternative farming and technological advancement both come with their own challenges, as they can each be costly and time-consuming to install or train workers to use, especially for agri-food businesses starting from ground zero. But another significant issue to face lies in food waste, which has its own startups and companies assisting operatives all along the chain with identifying areas for reduction, as well as the reuse and rehoming of unwanted produce and ingredients. Online marketplaces for surplus and imperfect produce leave little to no excuse for otherwise good food being discarded, while earning farmers and business owners more money to boot. A broad range of food waste tracking software, staff training programs and consulting services is also available to those willing and able to take some of this valuable work upon themselves. The next step forward from waste reduction is making the effort to decrease the volume of resources used by animal farming. Alternative proteins have famously helped consumers take control of how much meat they buy and eat, but a trend in insect-based foods has worth to the farming industry too, as companies are developing animal feed made from this super nutritious and sustainable source. Insect protein can be produced by farming such bugs as black soldier flies, mealworms and crickets, which themselves require a minimum of land, water and feed. The same can be said of algae – which are highly efficient at converting sunlight and nutrients into biomass – and © stock.adobe.com/Naretwww.fdiforum.net SUPPLY CHAIN 27 single-cell proteins which only require a small nutrient-rich environment. These are then processed into protein-rich fodder that can be given to livestock, reducing the environmental impact of animal agriculture while still meeting the growing demand for animal-based protein. While the public will assert its freedoms, whether as vegans, flexitarians or carnivores, every detail of the industry can be made to matter in endeavours towards greener farming and food production. Such diverse technological innovations, and more besides, are at the forefront of driving significant changes in the food supply chain worldwide. By embracing these developments, the food and drink industry has the potential to become more sustainable and efficient, while encouraging transparency from a place of pride in updating processes for the good of all and, as always, meeting the ever-evolving needs and expectations of consumers. acAttkucrTkorFof The leading UK Manu liftT ershatoffet od and drink hmentsc er acturuf Call alue, vyqualit e , wyindustr 0er 5vh oWit likorFof 006 611 2 e & inn viceomise a personal serpr ohe fears experience in t y acAttk ucrTiftT hmac-attliftkor.uk | fcoents. .ukcoments. www.fdiforum.net FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 28 Behind the scenes W herever you are in the food and drink industry, chances are your roles will cross over with facilities management (FM) at one point or another. Despite its deceptive vagueness as a term, a multitude of important factors in providing high-quality food products comes under this umbrella, in ways that relate to a surprisingly large number of operatives, managers and other workers. Let’s begin with hygiene, as maintaining high levels of cleanliness and sanitation is paramount in food facilities. The importance of preventing contamination for food safety reasons will be clear to anyone in this industry, but it’s the details of how to carry this out thoroughly which may get overlooked in certain areas. Regular cleaning, proper waste disposal, and adherence to hygiene protocols are essential. Much of the underappreciated heavy lifting in FM responsibilities will come down to planning rotas in a way that splits tasks fairly, while providing enough information on how they’ll be done most efficiently, and how schedules will rotate if needed. Effective organisation can be tricky despite its making common sense to the running of a food and drink factory, or anywhere else products are handled. It needs a mind gifted in structure and fine attention to detail to draft out plans that ensure an array of necessary tasks get done on time, and without needless conflict or confusion. One more proactive concern for food hygiene, however, is pest control. It’s a reputation killer on a par with illness outbreaks if insects or vermin are allowed to infest food production spaces, and pests often precede illness and public safety incidents. Prevention is always better than cure, and there’s no excuse for exceptions here. Every corner and opening of a facility should be inspected for sturdiness against unwanted visitors, and any entry points sealed while taking extra care to keep every surface clean. Staff on factory floors and in storage, loading or unloading areas can all be trained to take care of hygiene and sanitary practices, under the watchful monitoring of an FM operative. It’s helpful to keep all We explore how facilities management plays a pivotal, behind- the-scenes role in the food and drink industry, from hygiene to sustainability, ensuring top-notch quality and safety for your products and customers. 30 Áwww.fdiforum.net FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 29 © stock.adobe.com/choknitiNext >