Creating New Foods. The Product Developer's Guide - Product Strategy Development: Product Concepts and Product Design Specifications

A great deal of technical information is needed to change the product concept into product design specifications - on product qualities, raw materials, processing variables, storage variables, packaging, marketing. Basically in today’s product development we are changing the old cooking standards into technological specifications.

4.5.1 Product qualities

Product qualities, which are technically recognised and can be measured, are generated from the consumer product concept.

There is a basic quality and a basic use for a product that need to be set as crucial quality specifications. The consumers want a high protein food and that is changed into, say, >10% protein; they want a pale pink colour and that is changed into a reading on a colorimeter; they want a crisp texture and that is changed to a force measured by a texture meter.

Today there are more and more correlations between consumer sensory scores and machine measurements, so that these quantitative standards are more easily set. But sometimes it is not possible for the product characteristics and the ideal sensory scores to be converted into measurable product qualities, so sensory panels are trained to measure the sensory characteristics.

Product specifications are set for chemical composition, nutritional value and physical properties such as size, appearance and viscosity; as well as microbiological standards, safety standards and standards for price and sensory properties. It is important in setting standards that they agree with legal standards and that consideration is also taken of ethical standards expected by the consumers and the society.

An important product quality for design of other manufactured products is the aesthetic or artistic quality, for example the designer of a chair or an electric toaster relates the design to the prevailing art of the time. But art is seldom discussed in food design. This is now changing because consumers are becoming tired of bland processed foods. Food design is slowly becoming part of product design and accepting the general principles of design; therefore in setting the product quality, more consideration is being given to the current trends in design and how the food aesthetics can be developed to create the most desirable image.

The product quality standards (metrics) are written out clearly, showing the optimum level for each product characteristic and the limits of divergence from this that the consumers will tolerate. Sometimes the consumer will accept quite wide variations in the product quality and still rate the product as acceptable. The product quality standards must of course agree with any legal regulations that apply and with defined company policy.

4.5.2 Raw materials

The raw materials are identified which can be used and are available, and the limits on their use are obtained. The desired quality is related to the product quality standards. For example, if the product is to contain 5% protein, then it is necessary to know the protein content of the raw materials; if the colour is to be an orange/red, then the colouring ingredient must contain that type of red, perhaps defined by standard reference colours or physical spectra.

In raw materials’ specifications, limits (both minimum and maximum) are set on the quality, for example the chemical composition and the microbiological counts. There are limits on the quantities of raw materials in a formulation arising from processing needs, product structure needs, product properties, the quantity of raw materials available and the cost. In bread, there is a minimum amount of wheat flour needed to give the required amount of gluten in the structure.

Cost of raw materials is important because the product will be in a certain price range and it is important to recognise this before the design starts so the design may be formulated to meet it. The origins of the raw materials also need to be noted, as required often by regulations.

4.5.3 Processing variables

Product formulation is essentially the selection of a blend of raw materials to give the desired product qualities, but the processing conditions will affect the transformation of the raw materials and therefore determine the final product. Formulation cannot be divorced from the process. Food formulations are often developed on the bench top using small-scale household equipment, and when this formulation is transferred into the process the results can be very different.

Not only the types of processing but the conditions of processing need to be identified early in development. It is important that the processing variables and their limits are set at the conditions to be expected in the plant before product design starts.

Processing variables are identified together with their predicted limits. The important variables that affect the product quality, particularly safety, sensory quality and nutritional value, need to be studied so that limits can be set for them in the process.

For example, the heat treatment required to sterilise the food needs to be quantified, i.e. the lower limits for time and temperature, but upper limits need to be set to reduce the deterioration of the colour and flavour of the food. It is important to understand the effect of the processing variables on the reactions causing changes in the food materials during processing and how changes in the processing variables affects the rates of change in the food.

4.5.4. Storage and transport variables

These are defined because a food is not like a button or a bolt which only changes slowly over time; a food is continuously changing, sometimes very fast, depending on the conditions.

The aim of food preservation is to keep the food within the acceptable quality range for as long as possible; this duration is the shelf-life of the food. Shelf life of the food is affected by the conditions of storage - the temperature, humidity, time, atmosphere, packaging. The desired shelf life, the method of deterioration and the storage/transport conditions are specified at the outset of the design. The transport method (road, rail, sea, air), the transport conditions (time, temperature, humidity, vibration, handling, costs), the storage (ambient, chilled, frozen) and the storage conditions (time, temperature, humidity, handling, costs) have all to be considered. Again costs can be a restriction, and they need to be in the design specifications.

4.5.5 Packaging

Packaging is based on either the consumer or the industrial customer's needs and their uses of the food product, but it must also protect the product, fit into the processing and packaging lines, and meet the cost criteria. There may also be promotional needs for the packaging, and although during commercialisation, the final aesthetic design is completed, the needs of marketing have to be considered in the early design.

For the product design specifications, the first factors to consider are the consumers' needs for the packaging and the preservation of the food by the packaging. For example, if the food is to be heat sterilised in the pack, then a can or a retortable pouch is the only packaging. If the consumer wants to heat the food in the container, this limits the types of materials that can be used.

Often packaging types and packaging methods are limited by the packing line, the costs and the availability of the packaging. For example, polyethylene may be the only film available at the price; only a pasteurisation packaging system may be available and not a UHT (ultra high temperature) sterilisation packaging system. These restrictions need to be identified before the design starts.

4.5.6 Marketing

Marketing is defined by the market segment(s) and the marketing methods to be employed, including the market channel, the desired promotion and promotional methods and of course the price.

The product design can be affected by the type of retail display, the retailers' needs for the product and certainly the price range.

The market and marketing specifications to consider are the market channel (retail outlets, wholesalers, agents, product flow), the market channel requirements (size, weight, availability, price, display information), the promotional method (TV; radio, newspapers, magazines, sampling) and the promotional message (exciting, new, sophisticated, natural, nutritional, low calorie). In particular, there is a need to define the image that the product is to have in the market and to the consumer, and also the promotion of this image by the packaging.

Study of competing products is important in setting the product's position in the market and in determining the possible price range. The positioning of the product against competing products needs to be specified so that the designer can appreciate the product characteristics needed. Also the prices, margins and discounts in the market need to be studied so that a price range for the new product can be set.

4.5.7 Legal requirements

Any legal requirements for the product, packaging, processing and marketing need to be carefully researched and specified. There are many legal regulations for product standards, which vary from country to country and also change with time, so these must be checked carefully during the development of the product specifications. There can be TQM and HACCP requirements for the processing, and nearly always Food Hygiene standards. There may also be limits and sometimes bans for raw materials and product movement into and out of a country, and often duties which affect the costs and prices.

4.5.8 Summary of product concept engineering

In product concept engineering and the building up of the product design specifications, it is useful to have a checklist to see that important factors are considered in all projects. There are usually similar conditions in many product development projects in a company unless the project is aiming at an innovation completely new in all aspects to the company, or a new product platform. Usually the production equipment, the distribution method and the market channels remain the same and so follow standard specifications. New specifications are only developed for specific aspects of the project, usually the product qualities, but it is always important to check the standard specifications as they do change with time. Products that are major innovations will require extra consideration especially of their novel features.

In studying marketing and the consumer, there is always a need to watch any changes that may be occurring, particularly any long-term consumer changes as described for consumers in Denmark in Case Study 4. Such changes can be seen in many markets where consumers are switching from traditional foods to products that are more international in orientation.