Butter Concentrates: A Solution for Rising Butter Costs
Agile Kitchen, Dairy Ingredients
At the time of this writing (June 2024), butter prices are rallying.
Product Developers Have One Thing On Their Mind, and It’s Not Innovation
The three most popular formulas our Agile Kitchen™ developed this year have one thing in common: cost reduction. That’s not surprising given a recent Food Business News webinar that reviewed survey data from product developers and decision makers at food and beverage companies. This survey question stood out above others during the webinar:
“What are the trends influencing your company’s product development/R&D strategy during the next 12-18 months?”
The No. 1 response: Cost reduction. In fact, 59% of survey respondents said cost reduction was the main priority, followed by “clean label” at 53% and “convenience” at 50%.
The drive towards cost reduction is underpinned by two significant economic pressures:
- Inflation: Yes, it continues to decline, but many economists think there’s a good chance that food prices will start rising again in 2025.
- Unit sale growth: Although CPG unit sales are expected to reverse the negative trends of recent years, growth is anticipated to be minimal. Circana is predicting less than 1% growth in 2024 and 2025 isn’t looking much better.
Another data point: the popularity of the formulas on our website and the requests we receive from food companies. Our three most popular formula requests featured cost-cutting innovations designed to improve quality while reducing costs. Here they are:
Premium and Value Cheesy Crackers
This was one of our Agile Kitchen™ team’s favorite exercises this year. They developed countless iterations of cheesy crackers optimized for the “value” and “premium” ends of the market. The goal was to meet customer and consumer needs at opposite ends of the price spectrum.
Mission accomplished! We were thrilled with the work our team did, especially on the “value” cracker, which did not use any conventional cheese products. Dig deeper into our formulation process by first reading this blog, and then reviewing the formulas for the “premium” and “value” crackers.
A Cost-Optimized Red Sauce
Inflation has driven many consumers away from restaurants and to grocery stores looking for affordable meal solutions. However, these consumers still want restaurant-quality food.
We developed two versions of a cost-optimized red sauce that meets these criteria.
In our first solution, we replaced 50% of the parmesan cheese with our BGI Parmesan Factor 10 concentrate. This lowered the sauce cost by 37%. We pushed our formulation even further by eliminating fresh parmesan completely, and increasing the amount of our parmesan concentrate and tomato sauce solids. The end result: a 67% cost reduction!
Contact us for the formulas and demonstration of our cost-optimized red sauce.
Heavy Cream Replacement
A few facts about heavy cream:
- It delivers amazing textural and flavor contributions
- The price is volatile
- It has a short shelf life
- The supply chain is shaky at best
How do we maintain the positive attributes of heavy cream while eliminating its negatives? Through food science and innovation! Our Agile Kitchen™ team developed a heavy cream replacement solution that uses a combination of BGI Cream Powder BDF0011B, non-fat dry milk and modified food starch.
In addition to offering a stabilized price and better ingredient shelf life, the heavy cream replacer also has less fat and cholesterol. We’ve used this replacement option in countless formulas, from baked goods to sauces, and each has delivered the exceptional attributes of heavy cream with a more affordable price.
If you are interested in the formula for the heavy cream replacement, or want to learn more about our other cost-reduction solutions, contact our Agile Kitchen™ team.
