From Small Scale Tests to Big Success
23 August 2007
Developing a new product can be troublesome when much turns to waste during the testing, and is not always possible in a full scale dairy, due to the costs and product losses that can follow.
In the Tetra Pak Product Development Centre (PDC), customers can run small scale tests with all the right equipment, from processing to filling.
"We see the PDC as the customers' partner in their product development and want to give them support to convert their ideas into commercially viable consumer products through innovative R&D", says Stefan Svensson, manager of the PDC in Lund, Sweden.
"Another reason customers opt to use the Tetra Pak PDC is to avoid interruptions in their regular production. At the PDC it is convenient to work with product volumes adapted for testing purposes, but still keep the correct processing parameters. Customers can run small batches and try out recipes step by step, testing flavour and texture before deciding whether to run full scale."
Some customers come to the development centre to test new ideas and further develop existing products. Norrmejerier, the most northerly dairy in Sweden, has tested various products at the Tetra Pak PDC in Lund.
DEVELOPING IDEAS
Norrmejerier manufactures traditional milk products as well as niche products with a healthy image, such as functional probiotics. Some twenty years ago, a body-builder contacted Norrmejerier, wanting to develop a nutritious drink for use after exercise and strenuous activities.
Norrmejerier bought the idea and the result was Gainomax Recovery, a milk-based recovery drink fortified with proteins, carbohydrates and other highly nutritional substances, packaged in a Tetra Brik carton. Gainomax Recovery was launched on the gym markets in Sweden and Finland during the early 90's and is now well-established on European markets.
GAINOMAX AND BANANAS
During 2006 it was decided to explore the potential of Gainomax Recovery on a wider market. A marketing campaign, 'Bananas are for Monkeys!', was launched in Sweden, through television, promotional events, print and in-store activities. It gained much attention.
"There is nothing wrong with bananas," says Johan Nylund, brand manager of Norrmejerier. "But Gainomax Recovery has a better nutritional value than the banana when it comes to recovery," Johan explains. "It contains 20 times more protein and nearly twice the carbohydrates of a banana."
One target of the campaign was to make people try Gainomax Recovery for the first time. Gainomax Recovery was handed out to people entering gym and exercise facilities, in exchange for a banana. The bananas were sent to the Skansen Zoo in Stockholm, to the monkeys there.
SCIENCE IN TRAINING
Norrmejerier has continued to develop Gainomax Recovery, and has used the Tetra Pak Product Development Centre to test recipe changes, new flavours and different packaging alternatives. The developments have been based on nutritional research into how protein and carbohydrates are transformed, how they interact and affect active muscle tissue.
Since it first hit the market more than 15 years ago, Gainomax Recovery has become lactose reduced, fortified with both caseinat and whey proteins, and the fat content has been minimised.
Fortified nutritional milk-based drinks may have a much wider application base in the future, in the health care sector, at hospitals and nursing facilities, and who knows where Norrmejerier will end up with Gainomax Recovery.
