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Time to rebalance your life?
Being a food and drink manufacturer has never been, perhaps surprisingly, a piece of cake. The pressure has really piled on over the past few years however as consumers have become more sophisticated, demanding and health-conscious than ever before.
At the same time, obesity is creating headlines around the world, with western societies seeming to expand physically at an unending rate. In England 43.2% of Males are overweight and 22.2% are obese. 32.6% of females are overweight and 23% are obese. Source International Obesity Task Force (Data collected in 2003) and the trend is pointing remorselessly upwards.
One possible reason for this could be the long-held belief of many consumers (and manufacturers) that there is a necessary trade-off between taste and health - and this belief drives behaviour. Tate & Lyle has decided to rewrite convention by helping manufacturers develop innovative foods that are low fat, low calorie, nutritious, affordable and delicious.
The Company is doing this by developing a series of Solution Sets, which combine a range of ingredients into a single solution developed for specific market segments such as dairy and beverages. Each solution delivers on specific functional, nutritional, taste or cost targets. These solutions are marketed under four new product development services, Tate & Lyle Create™, Tate & Lyle Optimize™, Tate & Lyle Rebalance™ and Tate & Lyle Enrich™.
Tate & Lyle CreateTM delivers innovation in shape, structure, taste and texture - helping manufacturers create innovative and exciting new products. OptimizeTM enables manufacturers to deliver cost savings through ingredient substitution, or ingredient rationalisation, and also by delivering process improvements. EnrichTM enhances the nutrition of brands through fortification.
Tate & Lyle Rebalance™ Solution Sets offer manufacturers the opportunity to create or reformulate products to meet specified nutritional targets - whether that be reduced calories, carbs, sugars or fat. The solutions help manufacturers develop products that meet fast-changing dietary and nutritional preferences, and design food and drinks that fit in with consumers' busy lifestyles. All four of Tate & Lyle's services deliver these enhanced qualities without compromising on taste.
Tate & Lyle takes renewable ingredients, such as corn, wheat and sugar and adds value to them through technology and skill. A global leader in the renewable ingredients industry, Tate & Lyle generated sales of over £3.3bn last financial year. The company has 41 plants and 20 additional production facilities in 28 countries, around 6,700 directly employed staff and an additional 4,500 employees in joint ventures. Its investment in research and development is designed to help its 5,000 global clients deliver functionality and choice to their consumers. Many clients approach Tate & Lyle with a specific issue and the global R&D team swings into action to develop advanced ingredient systems.
In addition to R&D muscle the company is highly consumer-focused. A continual Consumer Insight programme operates to identify new food trends and ensures the food scientists are focused on solutions that meet the demands of the general public.
In addition to upfront consumer research, the Company also ensures that its Solution Sets are validated to exacting levels by top sensory organisations. It has been proven that Tate & Lyle's Rebalance™ solutions match and in some cases improve on many leading brands on the market in terms of mouth-feel, texture, flavour, intensity and sweetness, while at the same reducing calories and fat.
Tate & Lyle Rebalance™ solutions are used in drinks to deliver flavours and sweetness at different caloric and glycaemic response levels. They have been put to work in yoghurts to reduce carbohydrate, calorie and fat levels without impairing taste or texture. Rebalance™ solutions can be used in ice cream, where they reduce calories, carbohydrates, fat and glycaemic response, while maintaining a creamy feel and indulgent taste.
Tate & Lyle has developed Rebalance™ solutions that can be used in snacks and granola bars to deliver feel-good crunch in baked products and effective binding in bars, while cutting back on calories. Breakfast cereals and bars use these solutions to innovate textures, forms and ingredient combinations. Rebalance™ solutions are also used in soups, sauces and dressings - reducing fat, calories and carbohydrates while maintaining rich, creamy mouth-feel.
In short, the Rebalance™ solutions can be used in products in virtually every food aisle of the supermarket. Using leading-edge ingredients, such as crystalline fructose, maltodextrins, polydextrose, sorbitol, SPLENDA® Sucralose and speciality starches these solution sets bridge the divide between the tasty option and the light option.
Rebalance™ solutions are a market-driven phenomenon. Tate & Lyle is responding to demand for a new generation of products that meet consumers' needs for speed, health and taste. The global R&D team is constantly working to produce new, improved solution sets that can help the food and beverage industry adapt to this new climate.
Who knows, if food and drink manufacturers use the Rebalance™ solutions they may find that business can have its cake and eat it.
