Market Snapshot: Natural Foods
This quarter, we tested minimally processed foods like dried fruit and nuts and cold-pressed energy bars straight off grocery store shelves. We tested big brands alongside small niche companies. The result? A market snapshot of 27 natural food brands. In this 20-minute webinar, Mary Galloway reviews the findings. Learn: - moisture secrets of fresh-tasting, clean label dried fruit and nut snacks - what some big brands do much better than small ones - which brands have red flags for mold growth—and worse - the surprisingly high cost of moisture inconsistency Attendees will get access to the Market Snapshot data after the webinar. Presenter Mary Galloway is the application scientist for METER Food and manages the Food Research & Development lab. She is a contributing author on several publications concerning water activity and its influence on physical properties. Mary uses her years of experience to help customers understand and solve their moisture-related product issues.
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Market Snapshot: Natural Foods
- 2. MARKET SNAPSHOT NATURAL FOODS Mary Galloway Application Scientist METER Group, Inc. USA
- 3. CONTENTS Market Snapshot Overview What Does the Data Show? How to Get It Right – Aw & Moisture Migration What Are the Costs for Getting It Wrong? Key Points
- 5. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW 96 Products 41 Dried Fruit 37 Nut 18 Cold- pressed Bar Water Activity ▪ Moisture Content ▪ pH ▪ Overfill
- 7. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW DRIED FRUITS Dried Fruits ▪ Causes of Variability ▪ Impacts ▪ pH & aw ▪ Yield ▪ Snack vs. Ingredient
- 8. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW BLUEBERRIES Variability ▪ sugar & fiber content ▪ varietal ▪ drying method Impacts ▪ aw , %MC, yield pH & aw ▪ acidic fruit allows for higher aw ▪ blueberries = 2.9 pH snapshot average = 3.6 pH Yield ▪ use isotherm to increase yield Snack vs. Ingredient ▪ may have different criteria
- 10. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW NUTS Nuts ▪ Causes of Variability ▪ Impacts ▪ Yield ▪ Snack vs. Ingredient
- 11. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW NUTS Nuts ▪ Causes of Variability ▪ Impacts ▪ Yield ▪ Snack vs. Ingredient
- 12. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW NUTS Variability ▪ less variability – roasting, some salt Impacts ▪ %MC, aw , yield, texture, possible rancidity at low aw Yield ▪ use isotherm to increase yield Snack vs. Ingredient ▪ may have different criteria Oxidation Rate
- 13. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW COLD-PRESSED BARS Cold-pressed Bars ▪ Higher aw range – some past microbial limit ▪ Ingredient specs ▪ Moisture migration
- 14. MARKET SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW COLD-PRESSED BARS Beyond limit for microbial growth ▪ need to pasteurize ingredients Temperature abuse ▪ know what happens during extreme storage conditions Ingredient moisture migration ▪ keep water activities the same
- 15. MOISTURE MIGRATION & AW
- 16. MOISTURE MIGRATION & AW 0.86 aw 0.53 aw
- 17. MOISTURE MIGRATION & AW 0.41 aw 0.53 aw
- 18. MOISTURE MIGRATION & AW 0.51 aw 0.53 aw
- 19. AW – THE BETTER WAY TO MEASURE MOISTURE Pecans Isotherm
- 20. 20 • Prunes Producer IMPACTS OF REDUCING VARIATION Annual Production = 30,000 tons Previous MC target = 30.0% • Increased production = 1,500 tons New MC target = 30.5% • Annual yield increase = $487,000 Price per ton = $3,250
- 21. BIG BRANDS BETTER THAN SMALL?
- 22. KEY POINTS
- 23. • Have more variability, hard to predict outliers • Use pH to allow higher aw • Needs caution when used as an ingredient – variability, high aw environment Dried Fruit • Most variability comes from roasting • Susceptible to moisture migration and rancidity at low aw • Needs caution when used as an ingredient – moisture content, possible contaminant Nuts • Have higher aw range, some beyond microbial growth limits • Need to pasteurize ingredients prior to processing • Need to have tight process control and monitor/control moisture migration Cold-pressed Bars
- 24. • Aw drives moisture migration and is a better way to measure moisture • Using an isotherm will allow tighter processing specifications • Reducing variation in processing can be worth 6-7 figures in revenue • Deliver a consistent product with a spec tied to quality/safety Process Improvement
- 26. METER GROUP USA, INC. 2365 NE Hopkins Court Pullman, Washington 99163 Phone: (509) 332-2756 / (800) 755-2751 Fax: (509) 332-5158 Email: mary.galloway@metergroup.com Web: www.metergroup.com