Reduce Costs Without Sacrificing Quality

Commodity prices are rising sharply due to increases in energy, poor crop yields and many other factors. As a result, manufacturers are challenged with maintaining both product quality and a healthy bottom line. Advanced Food Systems specializes in creating ingredient systems that replace or partially replace increasingly expensive ingredients while delivering excellent functionality.

Rising dairy prices are having a widespread impact on the food industry. ReadiCream® and Milk Plus™ ingredient systems replace some or all of heavy cream, half-and-half, milk, and other dairy or nondairy ingredients in food-product formulations. These ingredient systems also can reduce fat by 50% to 80%, depending on the application, while substantially reducing costs in soups, sauces, baked goods and other similar products.

In finished products, these ingredients offer flavor, mouthfeel and color comparable to full-fat dairy ingredients, as well as enhanced stability and a significant reduction in calories. Both product lines are available as easily hydrated dry powders, and do not require refrigerated storage.

Manufacturers of baked goods have seen the price of whole-egg solids rise by more than 55% since 2006. BakeRite™ can replace up to 65% of whole-egg solids in pound cake, muffins, cupcakes, cookies and more. In addition to reducing overall raw material costs, BakeRite maintains natural texture and flavor, as well as excellent air cell structure and finished product volume. These systems also reduce fat and cholesterol, and extend shelf life by retarding the staling process, so products remain moist through extended storage periods.

Pasta producers have also been hit hard by rising prices, with the cost of semolina quadrupling in the past year. Actobind® PCI can help ease the financial burden on pasta producers. When added to an existing pasta formula, this semolina replacer improves the cooked yield by as much as 15%, while maintaining the traditional texture. This allows a reduction in the amount of semolina needed and, thus, significant savings for the manufacturer.

Actobind PCI can be used in fresh or frozen pasta. It improves freeze/thaw stability, maintains firmness and improves texture, and the pasta also exhibits less retrogradation compared to that made from 100% semolina, even with repeated freeze/thaw cycles.

Advanced Food Systems custom-develops ingredient systems such as these to perform in specific products, anticipating the full cycle of manufacturing, shipping, storage and final preparation conditions, and provides complete technical support and formulation assistance.