International customers have gotten extra conscious of the influence of diet on their well being and wellbeing, which is affecting their selection of meat merchandise. On the identical time, the time-poor buyer desires cooking strategies which might be fast and simple when making ready meals for the household. In response, producers are introducing extra pure choices.
A current report from GlobalData, Alternatives within the International Meat Sector (March 2023), discovered that customers in Western international locations are more and more searching for out merchandise they understand as being ‘naturally wholesome’. Additional analysis[i] exhibits that issues about salt consumption are driving avoidance, with greater than half of customers actively avoiding or limiting their salt consumption.
A worldwide client survey[ii] found that whereas older age teams are the most definitely to chop again on salt as a result of threat of hypertension and different components, youthful customers have additionally grow to be extra attentive to their sodium consumption, with 44% of these aged 18-34 searching for out merchandise thought-about ‘wholesome’ and 42% contemplating salt/sodium to be an ingredient that has a damaging influence on well being.
Extra customers in Western international locations are in search of ‘naturally wholesome’ merchandise
As this pattern in the direction of wholesome consuming progresses, improvements that may cut back salt consumption will enchantment to the health-conscious youthful generations.
Bespoke ham and bacon merchandise
Jan Oostveen runs particular initiatives, and analysis and improvement at Van der Mey, which produces custom-made ham and bacon merchandise for each retail and foodservice. Till just lately a family-owned firm of greater than 60 years standing, Van der Mey is predicated in South Holland and its prospects not solely hail from Europe, but in addition the Caribbean and South East Asia.
Jan Oostveen says Van der Mey may be very a lot conscious of the most recent developments relating to wholesome meals
Van der Mey has greater than 150 energetic recipes as a bespoke providing, which makes it extremely versatile in responding to market developments.
“Now we have grown to be fairly a big firm by performing as a small firm,” says Oostveen. “Now we have quick communication traces and are extremely versatile. I feel that’s what makes us distinctive.”
Van der Mey may be very a lot conscious of the most recent developments relating to wholesome meals. Oostveen says: “It’s increasingly more about salt discount, sodium discount, discount of E numbers and discount of synthetic flavours. We’re shifting in the direction of extra ‘pure’ merchandise.”
Making meals more healthy for customers
Van der Mey has regarded to long-term associate and main food-processing skilled GEA Meals Options to make its ham and bacon merchandise more healthy and safer, whereas retaining their scrumptious flavours.
GEA has been making an attempt totally different manufacturing processes to scale back the sodium content material of its merchandise and one methodology includes the best way brine is injected into meat.
“We used to function brine-injecting gear that used 4mm needles, however now we use 2mm needles,” says Oostveen. “Extra needles with a smaller diameter to acquire a greater brine distribution all through the product and it’s a extra correct injection course of too.”
Utilizing extra needles with a smaller diameter ends in higher brine distribution
The injection course of makes the merchandise safer as nicely, says Oostveen.
“Meals security, in fact, has at all times been a difficulty, and for the final 5 or ten years, controlling listeria progress has been a giant difficulty for each firm, each in ready-to-eat in addition to in non-ready merchandise.
“With regards to controlling the expansion of listeria … the equal distribution of components all through the product is a crucial consider meals security. That’s simply an instance of how revolutionary GEA know-how is contributing to the meals security of our merchandise.”
Working carefully collectively in R&D
GEA and Van der Mey’s shut relationship goes again to the Nineteen Seventies, and the businesses are relative neighbours within the Netherlands.
“By way of the a long time, increasingly more GEA gear has been added to our put in base,” says Oostveen. “It began out with brine-injection gear, however these days we’re operating tumblers, mixers, choppers, grinders, and all types of apparatus within the marination and preparation division.
“Our expertise with GEA has been very optimistic all through the years, and we’ve got additionally expanded to utilizing their slicing and packaging equipment.”
Van der Mey has added increasingly more GEA gear to its put in base
The 2 firms have additionally collaborated on distinctive pilot research, reveals Oostveen, whereby revolutionary new gear and equipment designs have been examined on-site in actual working environments.
“GEA is situated comparatively near the place we’re. GEA’s testing gear could be put in right here in our manufacturing unit in a devoted room, the place we will check the machine with our merchandise and types over a number of days in-situ,” he says.
“Now we have been concerned in quite a lot of R&D initiatives with GEA. As an illustration, once they invented new applied sciences such because the vertical ScreenFilter system.”
GEA’s new gravity assisted system filters outproteins when the brine is recycled from the injector, so the identical brine can be utilized for longer as a result of it’s cleaner.
“The brine filter makes use of a vertical display screen, they usually have been in search of a spot for area testing the gear,” says Oostveen. “We gave them some flooring area and a few manufacturing to run, they usually put in the equipment right here and did numerous testing.”
A profitable partnership, constructed on belief and dedication
GEA and Van der Mey have a detailed relationship, and that calls for a excessive stage of belief and dedication, notes Oostveen.
“I feel it’s an funding from our facet in addition to from GEA’s on this enterprise relationship. They realized so much from their testing, however so did we. So, ultimately, all of us profit,” he provides.
Shifting ahead, Van der Mey has extra plans, particularly in regard to slicing and packaging, and it’s presently operating a undertaking with GEA involving inspection and preventative upkeep.
Within the business at the moment, extremely expert technicians are scarce, so Van der Mey is the potential of outsourcing this facet of its manufacturing to GEA. As Oostveen factors out: “GEA has all of the information about their very own machines and they’re situated shut by.”
Van der Mey is alternate options to utilizing sodium nitrite in brine for curing
Van der Mey can be protecting a detailed eye on the present developments out there.
“Cooked ham and bacon are cured merchandise, that means sodium nitrite is utilized in brine for curing functions. That’s what provides it its color, its flavour and – partly –security. However, the ingredient, sodium nitrite, is turning into much less and fewer standard, and that has a partial overlap with the entire processed-food dialogue.
“That’s one thing we’re now: having the ability to supply an alternate recipe for a cured product with out the usage of sodium nitrite.”
Oostveen concludes that “it’s concerning the uncooked supplies, the recipe, in addition to the folks, but in addition concerning the gear we use. With regard to GEA’s gear, they preserve innovating and updating … to have a portfolio of machines that connect with what the market calls for.”
Additional particulars
For extra info, obtain the whitepaper under.
[i] https://foodservice.globaldata.com/Evaluation/particulars/ingredient-insights-salt-reduction
[ii] https://foodservice.globaldata.com/Evaluation/particulars/ingredient-insights-salt-reduction
