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We believe in the power of nature – after all, our goal is to help you unlock nature-powered success. It’s our motivation every single day.
Our quest is ideal stabilization and suspension with ingredients that come from nature … in a sustainable way … using less water and energy.
Here’s one example of how we do it:
What begins as waste citrus peel from the juicing industry goes on to become a powerful, label-friendly ingredient, pectin.
We’ve even reduced our need for water in peel preparation. What little wastewater byproduct we have is recycled as fertilizer and fertigation (fertilized irrigation) to nurture citrus orchards and eucalyptus trees.
Once the pectin is extracted from the citrus peels, we pioneered a way to turn the leftover peels into BRASPOLPA™ sustainable food for animals. This trademarked nutrient has helped to reduce our plant’s environmental footprint considerably by reducing its waste output.
We’re also proud that it earned our Limeira plant an Honor Merit Award at the 23rd Environmental Merit Awards sponsored by FIESP (Federacão das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo) in 2017.
Learn how our sustainability journey can help you meet your customers’ expectations of responsibly sourced and renewable ingredients.
As you seek to reduce the number of ingredients on your label, we know that each one you choose needs to be multifunctional, nature-based, and recognizable to consumers. NUTRAVA® Citrus Fiber does it all AND contributes to daily fiber intake as well. That’s why it’s the next-generation, ingredient of choice for product developers creating clean label products. Key applications include dressings and sauces, condiments, fruit-flavored drinks – the possibilities are endless!
A multifunctional tool in your formulation toolbox:
Benefits
- Emulsion Stabilization
- Suspension
- Water-Binding
- Viscosity & Mouthfeel
- Supports Fat Reduction
- Supports Sugar Reduction
- Egg substitution
- No E Number
Discover the Possibilities
CP Kelco’s NUTRAVA® Citrus Fiber is nature-based and derived from intact citrus peels. Our unique, patented process converts the peels into a fiber that is not only functional, but also contributes to daily fiber intake.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
CP Kelco strives to be a sustainable partner in your supply chain. See the steps we’re taking to live up to our commitment to People, Planet and Profit.
Keep in Touch!
Sign up to receive CP Kelco’s quarterly newsletter to stay up to date with the latest nature-based ingredient trends, discover tips for formulators and much more.
In Innova Market Insights’ recent forecast of food and beverage trends for 2020, one thing was perfectly clear: ingredients matter. Consumers are increasingly interested in what makes up their favorite products. After all, they count on products such as yogurt to help maintain their healthy-but-hectic lifestyles. As we’ll discover, there is one trend set to revolutionize the yogurt market. It’s already in high demand among consumers. And one key ingredient is ready to help your brand succeed.
A Look at Yogurt Trends
According to Innova Market Insights, more than half of all U.S. shoppers purchase yogurt regularly. While it’s still a top choice for breakfast, more consumers are turning to yogurt as a snack. There’s also a shift towards yogurt for dinner, which suggests a growing interest in the more indulgent, dessert-style yogurts. Almost 20% choose yogurt because it’s so convenient, and ambient drinking yogurts are tailor made for the on-the-go lifestyle.
Health claims are also a big part of yogurt’s appeal to consumers. Food Ingredients First reports that more than 60% of all new yogurts made a digestive/gut health claim in 2018 and just about as many claimed to be low fat. Protein is still a megatrend worldwide and yogurt is a great source. However, with many manufacturers striving to reduce sugar, low- and no-sugar claims are on the rise. Over 20% of yogurts launched in 2018 made the low-sugar claim, says Food Ingredients First. That marks a double-digit jump in just four years.
From CP Kelco’s own internal research, we know that consumers want to increase their daily fruit intake, especially in many Asian and developing countries. They are eager to experience new sources, such as fruit yogurt, and combine it with savory flavors, spices and nuts.
The Category to Watch
Industry insiders, including the author of the lifestyle blog Eat For The Planet, call plant-based yogurt “the category to watch in 2019 and beyond.” According to Progressive Grocer, it’s the “new market disruptor,” taking the place of Greek yogurt, and Plant Based Foods Association reports the plant-based yogurt category grew almost 40% in the U.S. in one year – more than plant-based meats and beverages combined! Innova Market Insights says Europe is the leading region for spoonable non-dairy yogurt launches in the first half of 2019. The global non-dairy yogurt market is predicted to increase significantly through 2027, according to Future Market Insights.
The reason? Consumers perceive plant-based foods to be “healthier.”
One look at grocery store shelves will convince you that there isn’t a plant, nut or legume that hasn’t been turned into a dairy alternative. Recent launches seem to favor oat milk with a creamy texture that is well-suited as a yogurt base and coconut cream, which provides rich flavor. There is no clear non-dairy front runner yet, which could make for some interesting competition and lots of choice for consumers.
What Will it Take to Succeed?
Working with plant-based yogurts comes with a unique set of challenges related to taste, texture and formulation. In a competitive market, brands that can master these six criteria will succeed with consumers:
- Clean label
- Low or no sugar fruit preparation
- Interesting flavors
- Creamy texture
- Plant-based protein
- Fresh/fruity taste
The Key Ingredient: GENU® Pectin
Pectin is a familiar ingredient to consumers and produced from citrus peels. As the world’s leading pectin producer with more than 75 years of experience, CP Kelco sources its citrus peels from the juice industry. Pectin provides soluble fiber and can help you meet your clean label formulation requirements.
Pectin adds a nice, creamy texture to your fruit prep with a fantastic shine and a unique flavor release compared to starch. It lets your fruit be the star – consumers see an even distribution of well-preserved, large pieces of fruit. Pectin also has a clean taste that won’t affect your fruit’s natural flavor. It provides a shear-thinning flow to optimize the pumping process without disturbing the fruit. This ensures your fruit prep will remain stable through the manufacturing process – from the transport and processing of the fruit prep itself through your production of stirred, fruit-at-the-bottom, fruit-at-the-top or fruit-on-the-side finished yogurt (with no “floating fruit” migration/reaction to your white mass or thinning down).
We can recommend the following product categories for fruit preparations, based on your needs:
- HM Pectin (high methylated) is great for suspension and rapid setting at higher temperatures. It is used for traditional high-sugar products.
- LM Pectin (low methylated) can be used for low-calorie/low-sugar fruit prep. There are a broad range of LM pectins to choose from. Your LM pectin choice will depend on key variables such as your production process, setting temperature, sugar content, preferred texture and whether organic compliance is a requirement.
In addition to using pectin for your fruit preparation, it’s also an excellent, nature-based ingredient for your white mass. Your pectin choice will depend on the formulation content of soluble solids, amount of culture present, protein source, type of sugar and fruit variety, as well as the texture and viscosity you desire. So, play up your yogurt’s indulgence and sensory profile with beautiful layers of fruit and white mass. Reformulate to reduce sugar and add protein. CP Kelco can help you achieve the results you want.
Formulating the perfect beverage requires a bit of art and science. Regardless of whether you’re working with dairy or plant-based beverages, product developers want the same results:
- Stability
- Suspension
- Texture
- A pleasing appearance
- A cleaner label with fewer ingredients, less sugar, etc.
Dairy Dilemmas
Suspension of insoluble minerals, cocoa and fiber in milk-based and protein-fortified beverages can be challenging. There can also be stabilization problems with neutral pH dairy beverages, creamers and cultured products. Count on KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum to create a fluid gel network with excellent suspension and a smooth pour, with minimal impact on viscosity and mouthfeel.
The drinking yogurts segment has seen rapid growth, thanks to its grab-and-go convenience and health benefits. However, heat processing for shelf stability adds another hurdle for formulators. Gellan gum hydrates at manufacture processing temperature (no extra step required), providing stability and texture upon cooling. To achieve that creamy, indulgent taste consumers desire and keep your label-friendly status, KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum adds stability, texture and a light, refreshing mouthfeel.
Discover Solutions for Formulating Your Next Masterpiece
Plant-Based Protein Problems
Working with plant protein has its own set of unique challenges. It can be hard to achieve visual uniformity and even distribution of insoluble proteins, cocoa, calcium and nutrients. Different protein sources such as legumes, nuts and grains can also negatively impact your outcome – forming a gritty sediment at the bottom and leaving an unpleasant taste.
To address your functional requirements and achieve a clean label, turn to a stabilizer that offers excellent suspension functionality – naturally derived KELCOGEL Gellan Gum. We offer gellan gum solutions that are vegan, Non-GMO Project Verified, organic compliant, gluten-free and more to address your specific needs while creating your plant-based beverage masterpiece. Should any formulation and process modifications be needed, you can count on our regional R&D lab experts to help with tips they’ve culled from their 30 years of working with gellan gum.
Free Whitepaper Download: Answering Protein Appetites
Gellan Gum is your multi-functional, go-to ingredient for conquering protein beverage formulation challenges.
Here’s how we can help solve five challenges when working with neutral pH milk and plant-based protein drinks, smoothies and drinking yogurts:
1. Suspension.
Innovative KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum is a master of long-term suspension. It suspends insoluble ingredients, such as cocoa powder, calcium, minerals and protein, while contributing minimal viscosity. So, you don’t have to worry about sediment on the bottom of your formulation. Gellan gum also offers no adverse impact on flavor. You just get a uniform pour with a clean, pleasant mouthfeel in shelf-stable UHT and refrigerated, neutral pH protein drinks, smoothies and drinking yogurts.
2. Stabilization.
Maintaining product consistency over the course of shelf life is what we call stability. Your beverage must deliver the promise of the ingredient benefits in every sip, and it must taste and look good, without separation and settling. As new alternative protein sources come along, so do new stabilization challenges. For instance, protein powders can be difficult to hydrate and sensitive to heat and pH, so there’s the threat of protein instability in the finished beverage. KELCOGEL Gellan Gum forms a fluid gel to stabilize your beverage and prevent phase separation with minimal impact on viscosity. No matter if you’re using dairy milk or plant proteins, KELCOGEL Gellan Gum provides stabilization.
3. Tailored texture.
Great texture can be compared to making a memorable first impression. It can be hard to describe what you’re expecting, but we encourage formulators to try to address their texture needs up front and work backwards in the process to achieve them. Define the richness, creaminess and other specific attributes you want consumers to experience when tasting your beverage and we can help you attain them. Innovative KELCOGEL Gellan Gum should be the first tool in your texture toolbox. It plays well with other hydrocolloid texturants so we can help you achieve your desired mouthfeel. Remember, most consumers won’t even think about texture – unless it’s inferior. A gelatinous chocolate milk (dairy or alternative dairy) could turn off a customer for good.
4. Reducing ingredients.
KELCOGEL Gellan Gum supports the development of your innovative products with shorter ingredient lists to meet ever-changing consumer demands. Discovered on a water lily plant and commercialized by CP Kelco over 25 years ago, KELCOGEL Gellan Gum is a naturally derived, highly effective, soluble dietary fiber. It’s multifunctional, so a little accomplishes a lot in terms of suspension, stabilization and texture. And it comes in a variety of grades to meet your specification. Because nature-based ingredients form the core of everything we do, quality and sustainability is built into our DNA. We’re proud to be leading the way in how nature-based products are produced.
5. Achieving clean label requirements.
“Free-from” food products are a huge consumer trend. This has led to a rise in vegan/vegetarian, gluten-free and other label-friendly claims. Plant-based, fermentation-derived KELCOGEL Gellan Gum can help you meet your clean label requirements with grades that are non-GMO, vegan, kosher, halal and more to eliminate any consumer concerns.
Let Us Help Find Your Solution
How can we help you satisfy your unique challenges? Whether it’s suspending botanicals in an energy drink, creating an indulgent, creamy smoothie or recovering body in a reduced-calorie beverage, CP Kelco is the perfect partner for the beverage category. With 25 years of gellan gum innovation, world-class application knowledge and regional expertise, our global team of nature-based ingredient enthusiasts love to collaborate with you on good-for-you beverages that range from light and refreshing to rich and decadent.
Consumers want companies to make more environmentally sound choices. As a result, companies are looking to their supply chains to help them reach their sustainability goals. This puts your suppliers in an important light. We compiled a 4-step strategy to help guide your choices. What we found can not only increase your overall efficiency but benefit the communities you serve, and reduce costs, too. Click the image or here to download the PDF. 
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We tend to view swallowing as a simple reflex, but it actually requires the use of 26 muscles and six nerves. Disease, head/neck injuries and aging can deteriorate these muscles and make swallowing difficult. The medical term for this condition is dysphagia. We’ve all felt that disturbing sensation when food “goes down the wrong pipe.” For someone suffering from dysphagia and constantly worried about choking, mealtime can be both embarrassing and terrifying.
Dysphagia affects more people than we think, especially with our growing aging population. According to the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders, it’s estimated that up to 22 percent of individuals over age 50 and most individuals by the age of 80 will experience it to some degree. CP Kelco is proud to play a part in the management of dysphagia, helping people to enjoy food and beverages again with less risk of choking.
Manufacturers use our ingredients to create three kinds of dysphagia diet texture modifications:
- We help thicken liquids so they flow more slowly, which gives the muscles more time to react and protect the airway. Fluids have always been an essential part of any diet – up to eight glasses of liquids per day is recommended. In the past, these liquids would have been thickened with starch, which had a chalky after-taste as well as a tendency to solidify and cause bloat. We offer nature-based ingredient solutions instead and can ensure the patient is receiving a tastier option.
- We help with the creation of soft foods. The innovation in this fast-growing segment is amazing! In Japan, where we’ve been working with manufacturers for 20 years, necessity has led to the invention of sophisticated, pureed meals for the elderly that are molded to look and taste like their original counterparts.
- We help with formulas for enteral tube nutrition. For those who can’t accept food and beverages by mouth, we modify the rheology of the tube feeding fluid to enhance nourishment delivery. Exciting progress is being made with plant-based protein formulas that use organic-compliant ingredients for increased tolerance and more complete nutrition.
Besides providing sensory/texture benefits, CP Kelco’s ingredients are exceptionally easy to use. We offer several, convenient, nature-based thickening and gelling agent solutions:
KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum is a soluble dietary fiber produced by fermentation that enables the preparation of soft-gel foods such as fish, soups, meats, vegetables and desserts. Available in two types, low acyl or high acyl, gellan gum can produce a wide variety of textures and provides excellent suspension of insoluble ingredients.
GENU® Pectin is extracted from citrus peel and is another superior stabilizer that can protect proteins and other nutrients in food formulations. It can often support organic label claims too.
GENUGEL® Carrageenan is derived from red seaweed and can be used to reconstitute a broad variety of foods into a cohesive, easy-to-swallow form.
For beverages, KELTROL® Xanthan Gum is optimized for use in hot, cold and acidic beverages with a consistent, gel-like viscosity and no off-taste.
Contact CP Kelco for more information to meet your dysphagia ingredient needs.
Sources
“How Aging Affects Our Swallowing Ability,” The National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders, March 2013.
Protein Problem-Solving, Insights & Innovation
Nutrition. Energy. Diet. Consumers are clamoring for protein! But is dairy protein popular in your region? Or do your consumers prefer plant-based sources? Gain helpful insight on what’s driving protein innovation around the globe and how we can help you unlock your next protein-powered success.
Click here to download this whitepaper.
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Shifting consumer preference for healthier products, new labeling laws, and sugar taxes all have contributed to making the reformulation of reduce sugar a top priority. While the demand to lower or even eliminate sugar is clear, developing formulas that meet consumer expectations is not.
Learn more about our unparalleled innovation and expertise in replacing sugar without comprising on mouthfeel, texture or taste. We offer a broad portfolio of nature-based ingredients that working alone, or in combination, enable formulators to mimic the mouthfeel and texture of a full-sugar beverage without a bitter aftertaste. Our application scientists offer years of research, development and application knowledge to reach sugar reduction targets with all the desired sensory and taste profiles expected of a quality product. Let us help you rethink existing or develop new recipes with optimal market appeal.
GENU® Pectin
GENU® Pectin is a preferred choice to reduce sugar and recover mouthfeel in fruit-based beverages. This well-known product is derived from nature-based occurring structural components in fruits and vegetables. GENU Pectin provides body and mouthfeel in fruit juice products when used at levels of around 0.2%. When consumed, a reduced-sugar beverage containing GENU Pectin can have a mouthfeel which mimics its full-sugar counterpart as well as an enhanced fruity flavor.
KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum
KELCOGEL® Gellan Gum offers unique suspension properties in drinks via the formation of a fluid gel network. This extremely pseudoplastic network consists of a low concentration of weakly associated molecules. At rest, KELCOGEL Gellan Gum provides a weak gel structure, resulting in excellent suspension of insoluble ingredients such as minerals, fruit pulp and eye-catching inclusions. Due to the weak molecular associations, the structure is easily disrupted upon agitation, resulting in low viscosity when pouring the drink and a completely natural sensation when it’s consumed.
KELTROL® Xanthan Gum
KELTROL® Xanthan Gum has a highly pseudoplastic flow behavior that provides high viscosities at low shear rates to help improve suspension, while still providing good flow properties when poured. The slight increase in viscosity imparts the sensation of enhanced body which is ideal for cordials and sugar-free or reduced sugar juice drinks. Due to its molecular structure, KELTROL Xanthan Gum has excellent pH stability, down to pH 2.7 that allows high tolerance to the high-acid environment of fruit-based system.