Two years of pandemic have caused major economic problems around the world. But instead of the markets recovering, high inflation, exploding energy costs, and volatile market and price developments in the raw materials markets have greatly aggravated the situation. These factors are having a huge effect on consumer purchasing power. According to Innova Market Insights, 40 percent of consumers around the world say that their disposable income has declined during the pandemic. Higher inflation will continue to burden household budgets, so the costs and affordability of food products will remain a growing problem.

Hydrosol supports the food industry with various solutions that help ensure continued sufficient food supplies at affordable prices. The company focuses on replacing raw materials and developing economical recipes. “Raw material substitution is a core topic right now,” explains Hydrosol Product Manager Katharina Schäfer. “Locust bean gum, which is used in many stabilizing systems, is one example. As of today it has gone up in price by a factor of eight. In order to compensate for this increase, our R&D department has been researching alternative solutions intensively for some time now.” 

Replacing ingredients

Through the intelligent combination of various hydrocolloids, expensive raw materials can be reduced or even entirely replaced. Technical and technological changes also result in new recipes for the production of affordable foods, be they dairy and deli or meat and sausage products. “We’ve identified the cost drivers in many recipes, and replaced them with more economical alternatives. This is the case both for functional ingredients and for individual ingredients,” reports Schäfer. “For example, in particularly economical processed cheese preparations the cheese content is reduced and the butter replaced by vegetable fat. In milk drinks, we replace the milk with whey. Our goal is to create products of good quality with the right value for money.” 

Among the company’s systems for especially economical products is Stabisol JOC 2 for making fermented whey desserts. A clever combination of ingredients gives the final product the same creamy texture as yogurt. Thanks to the flexible system, the amount and type of whey can be varied, since both sweet and acid whey can be used. Both are by-products of cheese and quark manufacture. Another idea is the Hydrobest Drink range of all-in compounds, which simplify the production of milk mixed beverages. There are also economical formulations for quark, cream cheese and processed cheese preparations, cooking cream, and vegetable-based whipping creams in various flavors. In the deli category, Hydrosol offers solutions for fat-reduced salad dressings, spreadable sandwich creams with butter taste, and ketchup and similar red sauces. 

Consistent quality 

Manufacturers of fresh meat products can use the PLUSstabil FM series of functional systems to make products with improved brine binding for very good yield. The natural meat fibres are retained, and gain a moist and tender texture. With ground meat products like burger patties and meatballs, the range of HydroTOP functional systems give the final product better binding. HydroTOP Perfect D 80 reduces cooking loss in pre-fried breaded chicken partsand gives crispy, intact breading. The system is added directly during the manufacturing process.

Hydrosol also enables economical recipes for sausages and cooked cured products, for example with the help of HydroTOP CS 50. This stabilizing system can be individually adjusted for the meat content, and optimizes the quality of the final product even with varying meat quality. It is suitable for many different sausage products, from scalded sausage to large-diameter cold cuts like mortadella. The quality of cooked cured products can be adjusted with the help of special brine additives, enabling a wide range of ham specialties at affordable prices. These functional systems reduce cooking loss and boost yield, in sausages as well as cured meat products, while also improving texture and bite. 

Source: Hydrosol GmbH & Co. KG