Transcript Hurdle Technologies - Rutgers Food Innovation Center

Innovation in Prepared Foods:
Trends, Technologies and Tactics for Optimizing Your Success
CSP Foodservice at Retail Expo
August 12, 2008
Lou Cooperhouse, Director
Agenda
• Consumer Food Trends:
Top Ten Trends Affecting our Food Industry,
and their Impact on New Product Innovation
• Hurdle Technologies:
Food Safety Technologies from “Farm to Fork”
that will Enhance Quality and Safety
• Organization Optimization:
Optimizing Organization Resources into
Innovative Teams
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Consumer Food Trends
1. Convenience
• Time-starved consumers looking for foods that are convenient
to locate, convenient to buy, convenient to prepare, and
convenient to eat
• Various preparation & “involvement” alternatives exist for
consumer
• Ready-to-Eat (RTE) – greatest convenience
• Ready-to-Heat (RTH) – “heat and eat”
• Ready-to-Cook (RTC) – now “scratch” cooking
• Many products can now be eaten directly out of the container
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and fit in a cup holder.
Convenience
• Supermarkets expanding their prepared meal offerings,
and more restaurants are adding pickup lanes, cellphone
ordering, wireless ordering by waiters, and tableside
wireless credit card swipers.
• Online grocery businesses are beginning to catch on as
delivery service improves; fully prepared healthy meals
are being delivered to schools.
• Meal Assembly Centers first appeared in 1999 and now
there are more than 330 companies with over 950
locations in North America. Supermarkets are starting
to enter this business by opening centers in their stores.
• New smaller format stores are being created
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Value-Added Prepared Foods
-Refrigerated Foods• Value-added prepared foods category began with items that
could not be offered in other forms (canned>frozen>fresh)
• Increased consumer demand for convenience and quality has
resulted in a redefinition of these terms, and perception that
refrigerated foods can deliver this best most of the time.
• Advantages
– Visual appeal that drives trial
– Taste, Value, “Experience” that drives repeat
• Disadvantages
– Quality not static, and continually changing over its shelf life
Issue: Safety issues dramatically more significant, particularly for
Ready-to-Eat products
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Refrigerated Prepared Convenience Foods
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Precut Fruits
Precut Vegetables
Produce (cut) salads
Entrees/Meals
Entrée salads
Side dish salads
Component salads and entrees
Sandwiches
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Dips
Spreads
Salsas
Salad Dressings
Puddings/Gelatins
Baked desserts
Beverages/Smoothies
Cooked Meat, Poultry and
Seafood Entrees
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2. Premium/Specialty/Differentiated
• Regardless of demographic, consumers will continue, in growing
numbers, to pursue premium products and experiences.
Consumers no longer feel a need to justify premium, they expect
it and feel they deserve it.
• Perception drives trial, affects first purchase
– Appearance, packaging help captivate senses
• Reality…Clearly affects the repeat purchase…Has the promise
and experience been fulfilled?
– Taste (with bold flavors) is most powerful criterion for repeat
purchase, but consistency is critical
• Sales of specialty food grew 22.1% between 2004 and 2006
whereas sales of all food grew just 4.7%
Issue: As products become increasingly differentiated, new types of food items
are being offered that have not been marketed before, and a product that has
been “typically” safe, e.g. cole slaw, may be so altered as to create a far
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greater level of risk
3. Adventurous/Bold
• Celebrity chefs are encouraging more
adventuresome cooking
• Shoppers want, and are getting, bolder flavors, more
spices, stronger cheeses, more adventurous and
unique entrees, and more crisp and crunchy textures
– due in part to changes in taste attributed to the
dulled taste buds of an aging population.
• Mentions of the word “spicy” for new foods &
beverages doubled between 2003 and 2006
(Datamonitor)
• Bold flavors are poppng up in brand new areas.
In addition, sales of hot and spicy salsas are
rising, as are bolder cheeses.
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4. Ethnic
• Immigrant population, “globalization” of Americans,
and increasing world travel are expanding consumers’ food
horizons
– The Hispanic population continues to be the fastest-growing
demographic group in the U.S. and is expected to reach the 50
million mark by 2010.
– Indian, Indian-fusion and Japanese fare are moving toward the
mainstream
– We are beginning to see an influx of African ingredients like shea
butter and baobab oil into new non-food items like skin creams
and cosmetics. For foods, hot peppers like African Birds Eye Chili
– also known as Peri-Peri – are beginning to appear in new sauces
and condiments. And flavors from North Africa like couscous, for
instance, are also gaining ground.
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5. Authentic/Natural/Artisanal
• New twists on already popular items, giving people
more flavors and options for the foods they love.
• Companies will be more aggressive in removing
additives, preservatives, artificial colors or flavors and
"otherwise unknown ingredients" from products to have
"clean labels" and to make no additive claims. Expect to see
more products with ingredient labels that read like "a home
recipe”
• About a quarter of new food products last year made
claims of being additive- and preservative-free.
Issue: Consumer demands for “cleaner” labels provides even greater
challenges for food manufacturers, as they seek assurance for food
safety and extended shelf life for their products
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6. Health
• Portion Control
- Portion control has become a priority for many people who
want to lose or maintain weight, but there is an overall lack
of understanding of what constitutes a “serving”.
- A restaurant meal with an entree and two side dishes is
being replaced by sampler dishes that offer smaller
portions while providing greater variety, and appetizersized meals.
- Industry is responding by providing 100-calorie packs,
single-serving entrees, and half-size soda cans
- As many of us eat as often as 5+ times/day, we will start
seeing 150- to 200-calorie hot and cold options (one step
above the 100-cal snack packs). Right now the 100-cal
options are more like snacks than meals, while the 150-200cal options will be actual mini-meals
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Health
• Avoidance, Satiety and “Natural nutrition”
- Consumers will learn to "budget" calories, and fad diets will be
overshadowed by sensibility.
- Doing Without – Avoidance behavior is accelerating, and
products without undesirable ingredients are viewed favorably,
e.g. low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, low glycemic index, zero
trans fats, etc.
- Foods with fullness - Some companies are banking on satiety
as the new diet buzzword. Look for more foods to promote
hunger control and showcase their rankings on the satiety
index to help dieters stay on track.
- Naturally nutrient-rich - Even though sales of fortified and
functional foods and beverages have been soaring, a backlash
against heavy fortification may be brewing. Desire for
authentic nutrition is what has driven popularity of
pomegranates, blueberries, the acai berry, mangosteen, and
yumberries as “superfruits”, high in antioxidants.
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Health
• Nutrition indexing/counseling
- Topco, an Illinois-based supermarket cooperative, is due
to launch a universal system that rates the relative
nutritive value of foods, in 2008. Called the Overall
Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), it will use a 1-to-100
food-scoring index
- Hannaford markets in Maine has its own system, Guiding
Star, with ratings from 1to 3 stars.
- Ukrop’s, Richmond, VA, is now offering
nutrition counseling by dietitians for a fee
- In the UK, manufacturers use Traffic Light Labeling on
food packages to help consumers quickly identify basic
nutrition information. Red, amber, and green respectively
designate high, medium, and low levels of fat, saturated
fat, sugars, and salt in a portion of food.
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7. Functionality
• Lower Health Risk- Dairy Products
- Cholesterol-reducing plant sterols added to fluid milk.
- Incorporation of Omega-3 fatty acids, which support
heart, brain, and nerve health (to milk and yogurt).
Breyers Smart! Yogurt fortified with DHA omega-3
- Dreamerz Foods has capitalized on milk’s reputation as a
sleep remedy by creating a milk-based drink that also
contains melatonin and hydrolyzed milk casein, which
are thought to promote sleep and relaxation.
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Functionality
• Lower Health Risk- Digestion, Memory and Inflammation
- Ingredients to Treat Digestion - Nearly 200 new products
touting digestive health benefits were introduced in 2007,
according to Datamonitor. Once limited to yogurt, these
beneficial bugs are now in cheese, milk, smoothies, juice,
snack bars, cereals and chocolate.
- Brain food - Omega-3s in fish oils to flavonoids in cocoa -may have the ability to improve memory, sharpen
concentration and even reduce the risk of Alzheimer's
disease.
- Inflammation - Aging Baby Boomers are driving demand
for "joint health" foods and beverages. Stores will likely be
stocked with more products promising pain relief, either
from arthritis or exercise. The popular arthritis supplement
glucosomine is already showing up in beverages, including
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Minute Maid Active orange juice.
Functionality
• Functional Foods that Enhance Lifestyle:
- Linkage of diet and mood
- Linkage of diet and youth
• A big trend in Europe, “beauty foods” may soon
be alluring U.S. consumers. Beauty-from-within
products (dubbed nutricosmetics or
cosmeceuticals) are claiming to erase wrinkles,
give you shinier hair and even make your lips look
fuller. A collagen-injected marshmallow in Japan
promises the plump without the pain. Borba Skin
Balance waters started it all in the U.S. A new
beauty drink has been planned for release in 2008
from Coca-Cola and L'Oreal called Lumae.
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8. Local, Seasonal, Natural
• Food safety and ecology/environmental issues
continue to make headlines, causing many
Americans to rethink where their food comes
from.
• As a result, the “Local” trend is going
mainstream – “locavore” has even been
designated Word of the Year by the New Oxford
American Dictionary.
• As people seek fresher foods, they have begun to
connect in increasing numbers with local family
farms, CSA programs, and farmers’ markets.
• Restaurants have responded with more local
ingredients, more natural and organic menu
items and more sourcing information on the
menu.
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Local, Seasonal, Natural
• The trend for local is being picked up by food manufacturers
as well. Prepared foods made with ingredients, from the
same region in which the product is sold, are hitting stores.
• Locally grown fruits and vegetables often have a nutritional
edge over produce raised on "factory" farms. The latter,
which constitutes most of the produce grown in the US, is
picked about 4-7 days before it arrives on supermarket
shelves, and shipped for an average of 1,500 miles before it's
sold (per Local Harvest).
• Mintel International Group, which monitors the food
industry, predicts that labels also will become more
informative, listing where ingredients come from as well as
processing and packaging notes.
Issue: New competition is originating from much smaller suppliers in local
markets, that may lack adequate product safeguards, and potentially
create some negative publicity for the refrigerated foods category in the
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event of a product recall incident
9. Varietal
• Where once it was enough to say where
and how a food was produced,
consumers are finding more value in
products that identify the specific
varieties of ingredients, and breeds of
animals, it was produced with.
– Were Macoun or Red Delicious
Apples used to make an applesauce?
– Which breed of cow produced the
milk used to make a particular cheese?
– What variety of olives were pressed
to make an olive oil?
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10. Green/Sustainable/Organic/Eco-Friendly
• The rise of ethical considerations, a growing sustainability
consciousness, and increased focus on “unprocessed” foods,
food miles, carbon footprint, wild-caught, etc. is inspiring
new approaches to eating and will increasingly capture the
interest of mainstream consumers.
• “Green-itude” is rampant. The National Restaurant
Association has set up a Green Task Force, which will lead to
menus printed on recycled paper, uniforms made out of
wholly natural materials, and a decrease in bottled waters.
• Fair Trade: Big in Europe already (with coffee, chocolate, and
table textiles), fair trade foods will become as big of a buzz
word as organic.
• Organic food sales projected to reach $23 billion in 2008 and
the Organic Trade Association projects that sales of organic
foods will increase 18% annually from 2007 to 2010
• Farmers have the potential to be the New Celebrity Chefs 21
Trends Summary
Products That Are...
1. Convenient
2. Premium/Specialty/
Differentiated
3. Adventurous/Bold
4. Ethnic
5. Authentic/Natural/
Artisanal
6. Healthful/Nutritious/
Filling/Portion-Controlled
7. Functional
8. Local, Seasonal, Natural
9. Varietal
10.Green/Sustainable/
Organic/Eco-Friendly
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Hurdle Technologies
Food Safety and Quality Challenges
• Pet food, Peanut butter, Chili Sauce, Fresh Spinach… 2006 and 2007
were not great years for food safety. 2008 has begun with tomatoes >
serrano peppers. We will continue to see more of the same, due to:
– New types of food items that have not been marketed before
– Improved detection systems and lower detectable limits
– Enhanced regulatory focus
– Increased urbanization in America > blending of rural and urban
landscapes > potential for contamination from field, runoff, etc.
– An increase in global trade, and extensive food distribution
systems that have resulted
– An aging population that is more susceptible to foodborne illness
– Emergence of new pathogens, pathogens not previously associated
with food, in addition to antibiotic-resistant strains
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Safety – Growing Requirements by Retailers
• February 4, 2008: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has become the first
nationwide U.S. grocery chain to require suppliers of its
private label and other food products such as produce, meat,
fish, poultry and ready-to-eat foods to have their factories
certified against one of the internationally recognized Global
Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards.
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Technology Innovations and Solutions
• Good news: Variety of technologies
exists to enhance food safety and
extend product shelf life
• Sobering news: For every food
product, assume preventative
technologies may be
– Absent
– Inadequate
– Incapable of withstanding significant
abuses in time, temperature
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HACCP and Hurdles
• Primary Objective of a HACCP program is to establish
processes to inhibit or destroy microorganisms capable of
causing foodborne illness.
• Every organism has defined growth parameters, and the
ability of an organism to pose a hazard can be inhibited, and
potentially eliminated, by a number of factors, such as:
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Nutrients
Water Activity
pH
Atmospheric conditions
Presence of inhibiting substances, such as preservatives, microbial
interactions, and competition from other bacteria
– Stress on the bacteria
– Heat, Pressure
– Time, Temperature
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Hurdle Technologies Definition
• A Hurdle Technology may be considered as:
– A potential Critical Control Point (CCP) in your process, and/or
– A weapon in your arsenal of technologies that provides enhanced
food safety and/or enhanced food sensory characteristics for a
greater period of time, and/or
– A technology that provides your company with a distinct
competitive advantage
• Hurdle Technologies are proactive and preventative tools
to extend the bacteriological and/or the sensory shelf life
of a food product.
• Application of hurdle technologies will minimize risk, but
will not eliminate it. However, synergistic results are
typically achieved when hurdles are used in combination
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Hurdle Technologies:
From Farm to Fork
A. Good Agricultural Practices
B. Formulation
C. Packaging
D. Processing
E. Distribution/Merchandising/Home Preparation
Synergistic results are typically achieved when hurdles are used
in combination
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A. Good Agricultural Practices
• GAP Field Audits!
• Segregated area for sanitizing produce with low risk and
high risk processing operations
• External surface blanching/pasteurization (steam or hot
water) of raw materials (e.g. whole melons), if possible
• Abrasive scrubbing and/or aggressive agitation
• Extreme sanitation of cutting equipment, which can be
notorious as source of cross contamination
• Chlorine, Peroxyacetic acid, ozone, UV light and/or other
chemical aids in washing solution before and/or after
cutting
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A. Good Agricultural Practices
Fresh-Cut Dilemma
• Microbial variability on produce is significant and can vary
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within inches in the field
by product
by degree of product maturity
by season, and
by point of origin
• Pathogens can be internalized via roots, flowers, stem
scars, pores, channels, bruises, air cells, temperature
differentials
• Biofilms protect pathogens against bactericidal agents
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B. Formulation Hurdles
• Acidulants- Natural or Synthetic
• Antimicrobial agents
– Sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, sodium nitrite, etc.
– Sodium lactate, nisin, liquid smoke, sodium propionate
– Salt, Natural spices, e.g. rosemary
• Pre-treatment of components used in process
– Irradiated spices
– Blanching of vegetables
– Chemical/preservative dips
• Water Activity Control
• Antioxidants
• Competitive Microorganisms
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C. Packaging Hurdles
• Clean Room Environment
• Modified Atmosphere
Packaging
• Barrier Packaging Materials
• Active Packaging Systems
• Intelligent Packaging
Systems
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D. Processing Hurdles
• Thermal Processing
– Hot Fill, Quick Chill (Cook>Package)
– Post Pasteurization (Package>Cook to surface or internal temp),
including sous vide
– Retort sterilization
• Non-Thermal Processing
– Irradiation
– Pulsed Light and Pulsed Electric Fields
– Ultra High Pressure
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E. Distribution/Merchandising Controls
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Immediately following packaging
Manufacturing plant holding coolers
Loading Docks, Trucks, Loading Docks
Distribution centers/depots coolers
Loading Docks, Trucks, Loading Docks
Retail/Foodservice holding coolers
Store Merchandisers/display cases
– Affected by display case design, sunlight, defrost,
air circulation, product location…
• Between store and home
• Home refrigeration and preparation
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E. Distribution/Merchandising Controls
Superchilling
 Storage temperature just above the freezing point of the
product or raw material…for value-added produce and
meat/poultry/pasta products, this would equate to a
holding temperature in the range of 32-35°F.
 Shelf life shown to be 1.5 to 4 times greater for products
consistently stored at these temperatures versus those
stored at conventional refrigeration temperatures of 40–
45°F.
 Results in dramatically reduced chemical and biochemical
processes, and provides opportunities for significantly
improved product quality as well as microbiological safety.
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Organization Optimization
Organizational Needs
• Consumer Understanding Qualitative and Quantitative
Consumer Research
• Product Design and
Development: A Disciplined
Process from Concept to
Commercialization
• Culinary, Nutritional, and Food
Technology Expertise
• Packaging Design and
Development
• Cost and Quality Optimization
• Food Processing Expertise and
Short Shelf Life Manufacturing
• Distribution and Logistics
• Microbiology, Food Safety and
Food Security Expertise
• Shelf Life and Preservation
Systems
• Specification and Controls
Development, including
GAP’s, GMP’s, SOP’s, and
HACCP
• Crisis Management
Critical to develop a flexible, nimble, cross-functional, empowered,
and passionate team!
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Strategic Alliance Development
Partnering for Success
• Manufacturer and retailer alliances
• Manufacturer and Manufacturer Joint Ventures to
– Better understand international trends
– Expand distribution into new geographic markets and/or
– Enable complementary products, resulting in more complete
range of products available to the customer
• Manufacturer and Supplier/University/Service
Provider Joint Ventures
Alliances provide access to customers, and enable a more compelling
value-added solution to customers and create synergy and efficiency
in marketing and development efforts
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For Further Information
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Lou Cooperhouse
[email protected]
732-537-1901
Web: www.foodinnovation.rutgers.edu
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