Be flexible
People are hungry for more from their sauces, dressings, and dips. More choice, more flavours, and more goodness. Satisfying these diverse consumer demands poses production challenges. But it also creates opportunities to capture market share. We asked our experts – Food Scientist Linda Carlstedt and Line Solution Manager Manuele Levati – to weigh in on how dressings and condiments producers can overcome the challenges and stay competitive.
What are consumers craving, but not always finding?
Across the globe, consumers seek, and will pay more for, the flavours of the world and products with health claims, without compromising taste or quality.
People love tasting new cuisines and scan the shelves for messaging claiming traditional methods, craftsmanship and authentic, local ingredients. Flavour is the most important factor to 77% in Thailand and 50% in the U.S.1 And over half of UK buyers will pay more for innovative flavours.2
Within the health trend, consumers seek plant-based alternatives, cleaner labels and functional ingredients. In the U.S., 38% of consumers look for low-salt options when seeking healthier condiments.3 And while 43% in the U.S. look for “no artificial ingredients”4, only 3% to 4% of new dressings and sauces claim this.5 In the UK, 47% of buyers are willing to pay more for condiments and dressings with health-boosting ingredients.6 But just 1-2% of dressings and table sauces launched in the last five years globally carry functional claims.7
Keeping up poses production, efficiency and profitability challenges that only food science knowledge, production expertise and flexible technology can solve. Many new ingredients, whether particles, powders, fibres, gums, aromas, vitamins or minerals, are difficult to mix, sensitive to shear, heat or oxygen, or very costly.
“One challenge is to understand new ingredients so we can handle them efficiently,” says Linda.
The Tetra Pak® High Shear Mixer can manage up to 800 different recipes and perform multiple functions including heating, grinding, mixing and cooling all in one vessel. The key features of the high shear mixing solution are the variable shear system, vacuum, automation and agitators. They combine to efficiently mix all kinds of powders, including the difficult ones, as well as highly viscous products.
Whether cleaning up ingredient lists, creating a plant-based version of an existing product or adding new functional ingredients, expert support helps you get more quickly from idea to shelf with your new recipes.
“We have vast experience helping producers overcome the challenges of formulating “free-from” recipes,” says Manuele. “We can use our prediction tool and trial reducing stabilisers in emulsion-based products like mayonnaise with a cold emulsion process, since our solutions help achieve lower droplet size and maintains or increases emulsion stability. We have helped producers reduce stabiliser content in cold emulsion recipes by 20% and 30%, and switch ingredient formats from liquid to powder ingredients, while always maintaining the same product quality.” When it comes to reformulating recipes for tomato-based products to meet new production demands – such as cost reduction – that expert support is equally important. For example, when reducing sugar content in a ketchup recipe it may be necessary to add some starch to the recipe. Especially when the tomato paste is already specified and the goal is to stay at the same price per litre to produce. This is even more important when it is a smaller niche series and more expensive to produce.
“So, it’s also about finding cost-efficiency,” Manuele explains. “We can trial increasing or reducing tomato paste in a recipe, or reducing preservatives and colourants for example, by going aseptic.”
“We always begin with understanding the existing production situation and what new products we want to be able to produce,” Linda adds. “We look at the type of mixer, how ingredients are received and how the new recipes are composed, in terms of particles, pieces, aromas, powders and so on. We get feedback from our internal network around the world about new ingredients, like yuzu fruit as it spreads beyond Asia for example, so we know how the ingredients will behave in production. Then we combine what we know about the ingredients with our processing and line know-how.”
With pilot plants at 12 Product Development Centres and 1 Technical Training Centre worldwide, producers can access vast expertise and fast-track innovation efforts without interrupting production by running full scale trials.
“We can test taking a production from batch process to continuous process, optimise utilisation of expensive ingredients, or do trials that enable performance guarantees on fouling and cleaning,” says Linda. “Unlike testing with a few litres in a lab, you get the whole story and can solve or mitigate challenges before you start production on your site.”
The key to producing more products in a day, is highly efficient and flexible mixing and ingredient handling. This means not only faster mixing and shorter batch times but also quicker changeovers with less system volume to clean. “If you’re producing mayonnaise-based products, for example, our technology achieves the fastest oil addition and emulsification in the industry. This can reduce process time for a cold emulsion such as mayo by up to 20%,” says Manuele.
For both cold emulsion and tomato-based products, all operations can be performed within the same vessel, increasing flexibility and saving time.
“We can add proteins, emulsify, heat, cool, add particles later, for example, without extra tanks and piping for slurry and recirculation. So, there is a lot less equipment to clean during each product changeover,” says Manuele.
Smart production time scheduling is also instrumental to achieving an efficient and flexible process. It helps find the smartest order of production, to speed up changeovers and optimise CIP.
“It helps identify efficiencies like accurately matching ingredient handling time scheduling with recipe requirements, so no time is lost. Or, for example, it can help plan the production day to start with lighter or whiter sauces and moving on to thicker and darker sauces later in the day, so you can do quick rinses rather than full CIP operations every time,” Manuele explains.
A broad portfolio of mixers for food processing, emulsification, and managing high-viscous ingredients ensures your readiness to satisfy tomorrow’s appetites. Choose from the very simple to the highly complex, and for all mixing purposes – including high shear batch mixing, re-circulation mixing, and continuous mixing.
“Our solutions are modular, making it possible to start simply and add options such as vacuum functionality, powder handling, agitators, or flash cooling later as you develop, enabling endless production possibilities,” says Manuele.
Dressings and condiments is an exciting and highly diverse category. Prioritising flexibility in your production can empower you to diversify and grow with the trends.
“We know how to mitigate sourcing issues, handle alternative protein ingredients, and adapt to legislation in different markets, designing a line to ensure consistent results,” says Manuele.
“Our approach to complete line processing systems gives more than perfect mixing,” Linda concludes. “This approach, combined with our food technology expertise, can fast-track new product development and increase your list of SKUs.”
With expert guidance and flexible equipment, producers can develop the widest range of recipes with the right quality every time at the lowest total cost of ownership.
Read more about how we enable flexibility with our know-how and our mixer range below. And get in touch today with the ideas you’d like to test in one our Product Development Centres.
Taste Success with emulsified sauces – we have everything you need
Emulsified sauces such as mayonnaise pose a number of manufacturing challenges. We have the solutions, having carried out many years of in-depth research into the production of such products. On these pages you can tap into our expertise on how to make dressings and emulsified sauces, how to attain the right quality and how to keep production costs under control; basically, everything you need in order to taste success.
Watch the video to learn more about making a batch of mayonnaise in five minutes.
Taste Success with emulsified sauces – we have everything you need
Emulsified sauces such as mayonnaise pose a number of manufacturing challenges. We have the solutions, having carried out many years of in-depth research into the production of such products. On these pages you can tap into our expertise on how to make dressings and emulsified sauces, how to attain the right quality and how to keep production costs under control; basically, everything you need in order to taste success.
Watch the video to learn more about making a batch of mayonnaise in five minutes.
Mapping flavour and health trends
Bring more flavours to the world
What’s the secret sauce to staying competitive and profitable in the dynamic dressings and condiments segment? It’s bringing more flavours to the world. Find out how we can help you become flexible, consistent and profitable - to the lowest total cost of ownership.
1. Mintel: Table sauces: flavor trends to watch, 2025
(https://store.mintel.com/report/the-future-of-table-sauces-oils-and-seasonings)
2. Mintel: Condiments and dressings in the UK, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/report/condiments-and-dressings-uk-2023)
3. Mintel: Boost the health image of table sauces and dressings, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/insight/boost-the-health-image-of-table-sauces-and-dressings)
4. Mintel: Boost the health image of table sauces and dressings, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/insight/boost-the-health-image-of-table-sauces-and-dressings)
5. Mintel: Boost the health image of table sauces and dressings, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/insight/boost-the-health-image-of-table-sauces-and-dressings)
6. Mintel: Boost the health image of table sauces and dressings, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/insight/boost-the-health-image-of-table-sauces-and-dressings)
7. Mintel: Boost the health image of table sauces and dressings, 2023
(https://clients.mintel.com/insight/boost-the-health-image-of-table-sauces-and-dressings)