Grande Custom Ingredients
Group
Ingredient News Articles
Back to Basics: What is Grande Bravo?
We're often asked to describe the differences
between the products in our Grande Bravo
line. So, before we tell more information about what our functional whey protein
can do, we have categorized them into three different groups to help
differentiate them:
Group One: Bravo 200 and Bravo 250: Both provide a smooth, gel-like, creamy texture in final
products, but Bravo 200 is slightly tart and Bravo 250 is slightly sweet. Heat
is needed to activate viscosity building/gelling properties in these two
ingredients.
Group Two: Bravo 300, Bravo 500 and Bravo 550: All three ingredients in
this category are unique because they do NOT require heat to achieve
viscosity. All create a heavy, creamy mouthfeel
but have different flavor notes ranging from slightly sweet to slightly tart. Bravo 300 has the most cream and
milk-like flavor of all the products.
Group Three: Bravo 510 and Bravo 600: These two products are design for specific mouthfeel
purposes in product formulations. Bravo
510 has a slightly tart dairy flavor and is used to provide a slippery,
slick mouthfeel. Bravo
600 has a very mild, milky flavor and is designed to add a tacky,
pasty-like texture to applications.
Why Whey? Cost Control
The past two years have shown the food industry
that it's smart to anticipate the unexpected. Food manufacturers can't always
predict the rise and fall of commodity ingredient pricing, but they can help
stabilize costs by using functional whey protein in product formulations.
Unlike typical commodity ingredients, functional whey protein is a more
stable-priced option that can even cut fat levels up to 30%.
Specifically, Grande Bravo and water can replace heavy cream, half and half, eggs,
butter, cheese and other commodity ingredients in products like dressings and
sauces. Plus, Grande Custom Ingredients follows a strict chain of custody
beginning with Grade A milk (which is then made into
world class Grande Italian cheeses) and ending with the finished functional
whey protein powder. So, companies that incorporate Grande Custom Ingredient
Group's functional whey protein products in their formulations know they are
always adding natural ingredients.
New
Toppings for Yogurt
From rush hour to lunch hour, yogurt continues to be a
staple in American “on-the-go” cuisine. Today, there are more yogurt flavors
than ever before, but it’s the truly innovative products with features like
“Whip” or “60 calorie” that are gaining the most exposure. With so many on the
market, it’s difficult for some yogurt manufacturers to continue to be
innovative, yet nutritious. Until now.
Whey protein crisps can be used as ingredients in granola
and crunchy yogurt toppings to add zest in texture, color, shapes and flavor.
Michelle Ludtke, senior food technologist at
ingredient innovator Grande Custom Ingredients Group, has been using the
company’s product, WPCrisp, as a high-protein
addition to many of these toppings.
“Many manufacturers are unaware that toppings can actually
add more nutrition to their yogurt products,” said Ludtke.
“With WP Crisp, they can customize unique and desirable flavors and colors
while adding increasing protein levels into their product.”
WPCrisps
are made by combining whey protein with natural carbohydrate in a patented
extrusion process. Because these crisps combine high levels of quality whey
protein, a mild milky flavor, and crunchy texture, they are also ideal for
nutrition and health oriented products like bars, cereal and snacks.
IFT09
Recap: A look back at what we learned
More than 14,500 food professionals attended the 2009 IFT
Annual Meeting & Food Expo in California this year, including a group of
our food scientists who brought back new knowledge of 2009 food trends including:
Natural
ingredients: Food industry professionals are
buzzing about the importance of great-tasting, healthy foods. Consumers demand reduced-fat products that
are high in protein. Luckily, Grande Custom Ingredients Group® offers whey protein
products made with natural ingredients to build a healthier end product.
Increased
awareness of protein: As healthy living stays top of mind,
protein is beginning to find its place in the food industry as a leading
element in product formulations.
Cost
reduction: With the economy still slumping, controlling food costs was
a hot topic among food companies at the IFT show again this year. The Grande
Bravo® line of whey protein products help cut costs by replacing more expensive
ingredients in product formulations.
Flavor
on a Budget
Convenient, affordable and fit for the whole family,
make-at-home meals are gaining popularity over restaurants in this down
economy. As a result of this trend, gourmet frozen entrees and staple food
products priced economically continue to be in demand.
Cost continues to be the primary area of concern for food
companies as well, but that can't stop the development of new products for
at-home eaters. Despite the demand for economically priced foods, consumers are
still demanding new and exotic flavors to satisfy their taste buds. The Grande
Bravo line of products from Grande Custom Ingredients Group can help
manufacturers achieve the great tastes consumers demand while keeping costs
manageable.
The
Natural Whey to Diet
With buzz about healthy living still on the minds of
consumers and the recent switch from high-fructose corn syrup back to sugar for
many national brands, healthy-and-natural seems to be sweeping the food
industry. Many of today's products promote themselves as healthy choices, but
what are the product formulations altered with to
achieve healthy status? Swapping in higher quality ingredients made from
natural products could be the ticket for food companies' success.
Grande Custom Ingredients Group's strict chain of custody
guarantees that products are made from fresh Grade A
milk (which is then made into world-class Grande Italian cheeses). So,
companies that incorporate Grande Custom Ingredient Group's whey protein
products in their formulations know they are always adding natural ingredients.
Grande
Bravo® 600 Cuts Costs, Adds Flavor
In response to manufacturers' focus on cost cutting, Grande
Custom Ingredients Group has introduced Grande Bravo 600, a whey protein that
can replace high-end ingredients. Grande Bravo 600 is a Grade A, Kosher whey
protein with a mild, creamy, milky flavor that contributes a very heavy, creamy
texture. It is ideal in a wide variety of applications for reducing more
expensive ingredients, improving texture, and extending shelf-life.
The introduction of Grande 600 is only one of the many
proactive things Grande Custom Ingredients is able to do to control costs for
food manufacturers and processors during tough times. Grande products maintain
a stable price point, extend shelf-life quality and optimize flavor in
customers' final products.
For more on what Grande Custom Ingredients is doing to help
customers save money through innovation, contact Senior Food Technologist,
Michelle Ludtke at michelle.ludtke@grande.com
100%
Bravo, 100% Innovation
Grande Custom Ingredients Group food scientists have
developed a sample Alfredo sauce using their Grande Bravo whey protein to
replace 100% of the heavy cream in the formulation. Grande Bravo 600, Grande
Bravo 510 and additional water are used to create a creamy, flavorful sauce.
"The new product formulation maintains the product's
creamy texture and natural dairy flavor while introducing a significant cost
reduction," said Michelle Ludtke, Senior Food
Technologist at Grande Custom Ingredients Group. "This could be a smart
approach for food companies looking to cut costs on their cream products
without sacrificing taste."
Controlling
The Cost of CREAM
The challenge for manufacturers is controlling ingredient
costs as dairy product prices fluctuate. Grande Bravo is a stable priced whey
protein concentrate that can be used in sauces and soups to replace all or part
of the cream while maintaining creamy texture, full mouthfeel
and clean dairy flavor. Other benefits include increased stability and
reduction in fat.
Why
Whey? To Enhance Food Texture
How do manufacturers create a rich, creamy dip while keeping
dairy ingredient costs down? Grande Bravo functional whey proteins bind water,
allowing replacement of other dairy solids while maintaining mouthfeel. Grande Bravo will do the same for a wide variety
of similar products, like cheese sauces and spreads.
Companies
Focus On Quality, Added Value In 2009
As the world settles into the new year
with high hopes of a better 2009, R&D is top of mind with food
manufacturers. Why? Because manufacturers know they need to improve quality and
flavor to answer consumer demands for more value for their dollar. This year,
activity will focus on making current products as good as they can be.
Many leading companies have learned that current and new
product formulations can be improved using functional whey proteins with unique
water binding and texture enhancement properties. The line of Grande Bravo
functional whey proteins have proven capabilities to provide enhanced mouthfeel and texture in many products including cheese and
cream sauces, meat, bakery and dairy applications. Grande Custom Ingredients
Group offers safe and natural ingredients that help food formulators reduce
fat, improve quality, and reduce cost to produce finished products with
exceptional flavor, texture and nutrition.
Health
Important To Consumers In Uncertain Times
Taking control of health and nutrition will always be an
ongoing consumer trend and this year is no different, despite economic
uncertainty - and maybe because of it. Healthy cereals and meal replacement
bars will continue to play important roles in this trend, and Grande WPCrisp® whey protein crisps can make them even better.
Grande WPCrisp whey protein crisps
can be customized with protein levels from 25-70% and by weight,
these crunchy whey protein crisps offer far more nutrition versus other crisps.
Grande Custom Ingredients food scientists can even customize the color, flavor
and size/shape of the crisps to suit the manufacturer's unique product needs.
In addition to giving the product increased health benefits
by increasing protein levels, Grande WPCrisp can
improve the flavor of bars or cereal by providing a clean dairy flavor. There
is no masking required and the flavor blends well from sweet to savory.
Nutrition, protein and flavor can be improved by replacing rice crisps to
increase protein content or replacing soy crisps for improved flavor.
Grande
Bravo Adds Unique Functionality
Grande Bravo offers food manufacturers a broad spectrum of
flavor, viscosity and gelation properties that are functional in cold- or
heat-activated systems. This line of functional whey proteins is able to: