Opportunity
A customer wanted to create a new clean label version of its popular deli meat. The aim was to make a product that could be labeled in the country of sale with claims including “no artificial preservatives” and “natural.” However, the product still needed to meet the same shelf life of the original product, which was 75 to 90 days, and maintain the taste its customers knew and loved.
Approach
Kerry assembled a reformulation team with an expertise in clean label solutions including clean label preservation. In order to replace lactates, diacetate and sodium nitrite, Kerry recommended using Accel™ Natural Cure and DuraFresh™. These ingredients, which are made with cultured celery powder and dried vinegar, provided the deli meat with a traditional cured color, texture and flavor while maintaining freshness for its shelf life. Kerry worked with the customer to further clean up the label by replacing dextrose with sugar and replacing sodium ascorbate with acerola cherry powder.
Impact
The end result was a great tasting product made with consumer-friendly ingredients. Five ingredients were removed from the ingredient list and four clean label ingredients were added, including sugar, dried vinegar, cultured celery powder and acerola cherry powder.
“Consumers don’t want chemical preservatives, but they also don’t want their food to spoil. By adding some of our new natural preservation solutions we were able to keep the product’s original shelf life and taste but the label got shorter and now includes more recognizable natural ingredients.”
— Mike Matthews, Kerry Vice President
The Kerry Difference
Kerry’s expertise in clean label preservation helped the customer come up with a formulation that met its shelf life, appearance and taste requirements. Because of Kerry’s experience in this space, materials were easy to source and work with which cut down on formulation time.