KEY INTERVIEW: Cargill Looks to Gain a True Sense of Crunch

19 Mar 2015 --- Texture is an important driver for taste perception and is the focus of many of today’s innovations. Brands are creatively combining textures with for example crispy inclusions, soft centers and extra crunchy toppings, where texture claims are featuring more prominently on the front-of-pack.

Also, brands are creative in describing texture or including a texture claim in a product name. An Innova Market Insights analysis of the top 5 texture claims (creamy, crispy, crunchy, soft and smooth) on global new products launches since 2010 found growth in all of them, with “crunchy” leading the way (+64% in usage in 2013).

One of the key confectionery areas where crunchiness is important is coated candy, including chewing gum. Market trends clearly show that the market for zero sugar and zero calorie chewing gums is growing dramatically, but removing sugar means that you lose something beyond calories. Formulations therefore need to be balanced in a very accurate way.

“Now more than ever, in order to be competitive, food manufacturers have to develop technically superior and more innovative products, with an eye to healthier reformulations that show superior performance when it comes to taste, crispness and crunchiness,” notes Caroline Chabot, Marketing Communications Specialist at Cargill. But it’s difficult to measure parameters such as mouthfeel or crunchiness objectively.

“When consumers bite into coated confectionery products, they like to hear and feel a ‘crunch,’ which is basically a combination of auditory and tactile sensation. In that respect, we developed a new instrument-based measuring method that offers a new classification of crunchiness levels based on mechanic principles. We succeeded in getting repetitive results, proving the reliability of this method,” she adds. The company started the development two years ago and is now ready to share it with customers, after identifying a research gap.

“What we could not find in the literature any scientific method to measure crunchiness as most of this analysis is done at a taste panel level, where people were trained to detect the crunchiness of a coating. But this can be subjective, as it is influenced by many factors, including the hardness of the core, the softness of the filling, the conditions of the lab, or even the mood of the person,” says Bart Cortebeeck, a Confectionery Applications Specialist at Cargill’s European R&D Center in Vilvoorde, Belgium. “Therefore we were looking for a method based on accurate data where we can really value this. By developing this method, we believe we are able to help our customers in easier and faster ways than before.”

Cortebeeck explained that the new method involves measuring the crunchiness with a sound detector, whereby a crunchiness value can be determined, based on three different measurement criteria:
1. The maximum peak of decibels that the coating makes (1-100);
2. The distance between the first peaks measured (in millimeters);
3. The number of peaks that the sound detector is measuring.

“This method gives us the possibility to measure the crunchiness value given by all the different sweeteners or bulking ingredients in our portfolio in a fast and accurate way; whether it is sugar, dextrose or polyols, we can safely predict their behavior and tailor formulations to meet specific customer requirements” he says.

Cargill is currently utilizing the analysis tool on their existing ingredients and comparing their crunchiness profiles. In the future, however, the technology could also be used in the development of new ingredients/blends. “The idea of a coating is that it gives you a nice color, appearance and crunchiness, so by having this value behind we can look at other new ingredients, such as an erythritol coating, and at how we can improve it.”

The formulations of chewing gums vary around the world, depending on the composition and whether it is sugar containing or sugar free. Crunchiness levels also relate to the price of the ingredients, quality of the product and of course the stability of the ingredients. “If you are in a region with high humidity levels, like the Middle East for example, you will probably choose a different formulation than in Western Europe, where humidity levels are lower,” Cortebeeck explains. This type of technology could therefore be used in the customization of formulations to regional preferences for crunchiness.

Other applications for this technology are possible beyond confectionery, albeit with some adaptations to the method. “At the moment, our bakery experts at the application center are conducting tests that use this measurement technology. It could be suitable for biscuits, chips or any product that is a bit crunchy,” he concludes.

As marketers look to pack more “crunch” claims onto packaging, R&D specialists will look to innovative measurement technologies that can help them truly optimize the crunchiness of their formulations.

By Robin Wyers