Our business was founded by entrepreneurs, so it goes without saying that innovation is at the heart of our business – from the big revolutionary ideas to the small, subtle product improvements. Guided by new trends and market insights, we create original, sustainable, highly feasible products.
New product development
How we create new products
The ingredients market is continually evolving, and our New Product Development team make sure we keep pace. Lead by a professional chef, we find inspiration from sources all over the world to create the delicious, premium quality products we are known for.
With a rigorous process of development, any product that reaches the market is guaranteed to be delicious, feasible, and as ethically produced as possible.
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Planning and approval
Innovation-led research is the foundation of our process. To come up with new ideas, we engage in food trendspotting with our friends The Food People, and visit restaurants and delis across the world seeking remarkable flavour. During this phase, we also engage with category teams to make sure the products we are proposing will align with demand.
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Product development
With everyone in agreement that the project should go ahead, we move on to developing the new ingredient. This involves ethically sourcing raw materials and packaging via our procurement teams, making the product physically, and a rigorous internal benchmarking process against other successful products in the market, and gaining approval for these materials with our Food Defence Team, after via our procurement teams.
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Scale up
With the product in its final form, we seek approval from the customer, or our marketing team for branded work. This involves conducting product scale ups, shelf life trials, and factory trials to make sure safety, cost effectiveness, and taste can be maintained in mass production. We guarantee alignment with the standards set by the British Retail Consortium, and take care to meet any customer requirements that go beyond these. If the customer would like our help, this is the point where we’d look into generating artwork for the product packaging.
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Launch
Just before launch, we run through our final checks. This is the point where we order the raw materials necessary to create the product on a mass scale. We also go through an internal set up process to make sure we are 100% ready to launch into production.
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Post launch review
Once the product hits the market, we don’t become complacent. We ask ourselves questions. Is the product still cost effective and tasty? What impact has it had on the market? To find out the answers, we look at product reviews, sales figures, and a wide range of other KPIs to make sure the new product continues to be a success. If anything is amiss, we work quickly to put it right and develop the product further. It’s all part of our commitment to continual customer support.
Our purpose built development kitchen
Our purpose built development kitchen is where innovation happens. Here, our talented team creates delicious new ingredients, pastes, sauces, and much, much more, underscored by expertise and the latest research.
We invite customers to visit us at our development kitchen to experience the product in application in a number of delicious dishes. Where this is not possible, we also send samples via post, and even visit customers at their premises.
The process is fronted by our very own professional development chef. With over 10 years’ industry experience, he guarantees every product we produce is not only delicious, but backed by market insight.
An open approach to innovation
To us, innovation is about the transfer of ideas throughout the business. We have an open door policy, because we know great ideas can come from anywhere. That means anyone can share an idea with our New Product Development team – from the production floor to the MD.
After all, innovation isn’t just about the product itself. It’s also about packaging, processing, and bringing products to the market. And we believe the people best placed to propose improvements in these areas, are the people immersed in these processes every day.
From making everyday packaging tweaks to bringing international products into the market for the first time, innovation takes many forms. Our open, proactive approach to innovation means we remain at the forefront of the UK ingredients market, continually delivering value for our customers.
Exceptional standards of food safety & quality
As a food manufacturer, we’re proud to uphold all the necessary standards when it comes to food safety and quality. Over the years, we’ve developed a reputation for operational excellence, technical expertise, and great tasting products.
