Today’s consumers want to trust both the food they eat and the brands providing that food. As a result, consumers want transparency and label claims with third-party recognition that validates those claims. In order to fulfill these demands, a high level of formulation expertise is required to craft nutritious bars and powders that meet the desired claims and maintain consumer pleasing flavor and texture over shelf life.

Consumers want foods to be high quality, and:

They are seeking foods with more functionality, nutrition and health claims.
These consumer demands are driven by:

• an increased interest in specific functionality to meet personal goals or concerns
• high expectations regarding taste and texture
• overall convenience that serves busy lifestyles

They want foods to be their idea of ‘natural’.
Consumers regard these ‘natural’ foods as:

• foods produced with minimal processing
• manufactured with only plant- or animal-derived ingredients

As a result, natural foods are moving to the forefront of consumer demand, and they can come with unique challenges.

Consistent quality can be a challenge, since the processing of natural ingredients to achieve a clean, wholesome product can affect sensory and microbial qualities. Since many natural foods are agricultural, quality supply can be limited.

These challenges increase the complexity of the formulation and business process. Formulation challenges require the extensive expertise of an in-house R&D department of food scientists, technicians and regulatory personnel. In order to achieve desired claims, mapping and planning, proficient post-run equipment cleaning, and isolated equipment usage are also taken into consideration. Other challenges such as raw material storage of certain ingredients requires an acute attention to logistical details in the manufacturing environment.

Consumers want foods to be verifiable. As a result, manufacturers are seeing an increase in both the number of brands that are certified and the types of certifications that are being pursued. For example, having a recognizable third party-verified claim on the label that a product is gluten-free or non-GMO is important to consumers.

At Nellson, we have highly skilled quality departments onsite at each facility, along with support from our corporate quality group. Our focus on and our demand for quality is second to none. Our regulatory departments support our customers, assisting in the manufacturing process from label selection to certifications and claims to help your products succeed.

Contact us today to see how we can fulfill your quality and regulatory demands.