EPI develops yoghurt granules for low-fat crunch
The French dairy ingredient specialist began working with fermented powders about ten years ago, and its skimmed yoghurt powder has been a keen area of focus to give a yoghurt taste and to add viscosity to products like fillings, dressings and sauces, ice-creams, and acidic beverages.
However EPI’s Thierry Le Guen said that as the company saw popularity of its fermented powders increasing, this was taken as a sign that such products are very welcome in the market right now.
“We decided to try to find a solution to present it in another form,” he told FoodNavigator.com. “We had the idea to make it bigger – not a powder but a granule so you can see little balls of yoghurt that are solid.”
Thus, while the original powder was invisible in the finished product, the ‘Yoggets’ (yoghurt + nuggets), on the other hand, can be used to differentiate on appearance as well as experience: they are of variable size but between two and five millimetres, and are crunchy.
Le Guen said EPI sought to make the same effect in the mouth as chocolate rice crunches. The granules can be used in products like chocolate bars, breakfast cereals, salad mixes – and in fun products like dessert creams.
Aside from the crunchy effect, a major marketing door for the ingredient is the trend towards ‘light’ products, since it contains no sugar and no fat. Like yoghurt, it also contains lactic bacteria.
Technical challenges
He said that obtaining just the right hardness was a challenge, as was ensuring that the granules do not become soft and soggy on contact with moisture, as this would preclude their use in many products.
While technical details of how EPI keeps the granules dry could not be disclosed, Le Guen confirmed that this is not down to anything being added. They remain nothing more than skimmed yoghurt powder.
“We can adapt the pH to make them more or less acidic according to the needs of the client,” said Le Guen. “We also imagine we can give a specific flavour, like pineapple, mango, apple – or anything else industrial customers would like.”
Market possibilities
According to the company, customers to whom it has already communicated the Yoggets concept have responded with interest.
One area in which it could have success is in ice creams and frozen desserts. Not only is there a need to make indulgent products that are lower in fat and sugar, in keeping with the health trend, but there is also a high level of innovation in this mature market.
A new report from Global Industry Analysts says that the entire dairy market continues to benefit from an influx of products launched to cater for health conscious and indulgence seeking consumers, particularly in the emerging markets of Asia.
And ice cream is leading growth in the global market for innovative dairy products, it says, as consumers increasingly associate the segment as being more of an everyday, year-round household grocery.
