 |
Yes, fruit will be declared on your list of ingredients. Depending on your dosage rate and local regulations, you may also be able to declare it on the front panel. We follow the system of “Fresh Fruit Equivalent” (FFE) to give you the percentage of fruit in our products. Economical types such as Blends may have about 75-100% as FFE. Clean Label types may have as much as 300-700% as FFE.
Yes, it’s one of our strongest technologies. Our BSB type is developed to be stable with full exposure on top of cookie dough in thermofan ovens at over 220 C (430 F) for >10 minutes. They don’t burn or melt as do dried fruit or other products. When BSB are mixed with the dough, as is normally the case, there is no problem at all. The cheaper BB types are completely adequate for breads, cakes, muffins etc, where the NUTROPI is inside the dough/with only minimal direct heat exposure, lower baking temperatures and more moisture.
As our production system is by batch, we can develop and produce what you want. Yes, there will of course be a minimum of +/- 80 kg batch for something that no one else is using. Those that we have to produce specially may have a bit of delay if there are new raw materials to be sourced. The products that we already produce we call “Line” Products and with these there may be no “minimum” at all.
We use a system of “cuts”, that is, how many times the NUTROPI goes through the cutter. The more times it goes through (e.g. 3rd cut), the more irregular the shapes and the more natural the appearance. We’ve seen many examples in e.g. cereal bars, biscuits/cookies, cheese etc where a very natural appearance is achieved.
Not necessarily. For products we produce already, we can supply any quantity, although the freight may end up more expensive than the product (see Economics in the main section). For special products, we prefer at least an 80 kg batch for production. We have no problem making smaller amounts for factory trials.
Our normal production is in “cuts”, so it will always be in squares/rectangles or these cut into irregular pieces. So we cannot make any round NUTROPI. However in applications such as panned chocolate, our 6x6 and 13x13 cubes perform perfectly.
Keep in mind that, as with any other ingredient (like a flavour), the final effect in your product is likely to be very different from the “pure” product in the sample bag. Most NUTROPI types are not for “snacking”! So a sample such as BB or BSB might seem quite hard/chewy, or over-flavoured. But when it is incorporated into the end product, it will be different. For example, the more time you leave the NUTROPI exposed to available water, the softer it will become. So you can adjust the timing in some products in such a way that the NUTROPI does not disintegrate with water exposure, which would
destroy the purpose of the NUTROPI addition, but that it does become a “softer” piece.
The process of inclusion in ice cream is an excellent example. If one puts the NUTROPI into milk, it will dissolve. If one puts the NUTROPI into something frozen, it will remain too hard. But if the NUTROPI is added just before the final whipping stage, it has enough time to soften and will be just the right texture in the final ice cream.
In terms of “flavour level”, this is very easy for us to vary, depending on the end product. Flavour impact and acidity are some of the major differences between the BB type and the much stronger flavour of the BB-CH type. BB-CH is made very strong as it is designed to have to “compete” with the flavours of base products such as cheese and chocolate. So if one is looking for a type of NUTROPI to add to e.g. a Trail Mix, both the texture and the flavour impact will be different from a sample of BB. For such applications as “snacking”, we have a special type of NUTROPI with a soft bite and normal flavour levels.
Typical moisture content of NUTROPI is well below 17%, and usually <15%. We use 18% as the specification as this is the same as for dehydrated fruit in the EU. Water activity is an interesting aspect. Our matrix of ingredients, even though the Aw “seems higher” than freeze-dried fruit, has been proven for years to be perfectly suitable for applications such as cereal bars, chocolate etc. In some cases where the final product has a very low moisture content, such as some breakfast cereals, we use the lower Aw types of NUTROPI, such as the CBB type.
You will be able to replace the freeze-dried fruit without any stability problem in your product, and you will also have major cost savings, of course.
One of our greatest strengths is R&D and Product Development. (See Types in the main website). In general, if the flavour is strong and defined, we can do it in our format. It is only if a flavour is weak and too subtle that we may have problems. For example, some tropical fruits have very indeterminate/delicate flavours compared to robust flavours such as e.g. lemon, raspberry, curry, ginger, jalapeño or tomato & oregano. Macadamia (although we have done it!) is a much more delicate flavour than hazelnut or peanut, for example. So the stronger/more defined the flavour, the easier for us to do your special flavour. |
|
 |
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Savoury
- Sweet
- Nutraceutical
“we can make almost anything Aw stable” |
|
 |
| For those that want a very clean label, and a very high fruit content. |
|
|
|
 |
| Still a clean label, but with ingredients to modify/boost the natural components. |
|
|
|
 |
| Economical method of adding visual and taste impact. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
