The Nutri-Score front-of-pack rating system is already in use in several European countries and set to be adopted more widely.
With the German government having now also issued a recommendation that food and drink manufacturers use the Nutri-Score rating system on their product packaging, it has never been more important for manufacturers to find ways to make their product offerings healthier.
With this in mind, one of our Germany-based customers came to us for help in developing new protein bars that not only achieved the top Nutri-Score rating, but could also be labelled as having no added sugar while still having a great texture and taste.
Nutri-Score ratings range from A to E, with A being the best and E the worst. To get an “A” rating, a product needs to have a low fat content and a high fibre and protein content. The biggest challenge is creating a product that meets these criteria without compromising on taste. After all, taste is still king.
Using our Nutri-Score tools and calculators, we identified soluble corn fibre and Stevia sweeteners as ideal ingredients to help our customer achieve their goal. The customer was initially sceptical about using Stevia due to a negative experience and perception of first-generation Stevia products.
We presented our broad Stevia toolkit to them, highlighting how much progress has been made since the early days of Stevia sweeteners, particularly in how Stevia is harvested and processed. Our innovative third-generation Stevia sweeteners have a superior taste profile and solve many of the challenges faced with other Stevia sweeteners. Convinced by the quality of our third-generation Stevia, the customer became open to using it in their new recipe.
We then provided our customer with a selection of ingredients and, with our guidance on how to formulate with them, they experimented with the recipe to find the perfect one.
The winning formulations contained our PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre and Optimizer™ 2.10 Stevia sweetener and the customer created a range of five different flavours of high fibre, low sugar protein bars. The range has now launched in the German market with the much-coveted “A” Nutri-Score rating.
Our expertise in improving the nutritional profile of food and drink, combined with our knowledge of labelling requirements around the world, make us the ideal partner for manufacturers wanting to achieve top nutrition ratings. Having seen the great results our ingredients can achieve, this customer is now looking at other possible reformulations using our fibres and sweeteners and we look forward to continue supporting them!
Are you looking to improve your Nutri-Score or other front-of-pack rating in your next formulation? Speak to our team of experts today about how our ingredients and expertise can help you!
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