KEY INTERVIEW: Ulrick & Short Tracks the Clean Label Trend

20 Jan 2015 --- British clean label solutions specialist Ulrick & Short is celebrating 15 years in business this month, and on the back of a recent £250,000 investment in staff and technology, further investment has been announced in order to stay moving with a trend in clean label that has grown with the company. Director Adrian Short spoke to FoodIngredientsFirst about the company’s journey so far, and where it is heading.

“My business partner Andrew Ulrick and I started the business in 2000, having both come from a food ingredients and food technology background. We saw a gap in the market for supplying clean label ingredients to food manufacturers. At that time it was a very small niche. As we have grown, clean label has become a given in the industry, and we can provide a solution to virtually every food need,” Short noted.

This year, the company will maintain its focus on personal service, with investment in a new test kitchen, where new products can be developed at a culinary level first by the company’s development technologists. Short said that most products that the company sells are unique to the job in hand, and development technologists always work closely with the customer when working on a new product. Ulrick & Short invites customers into the development kitchens where a product concept is taken from a kitchen bench to something that can be produced on a mass industrial scale and still retain its integrity. 

Ulrick & Short makes a variety of starches, flours, fibres and proteins from wheat, tapioca, maize, sweet potato and rice, all processed at source at one if its manufacturing facilities in either Germany, Taiwan, Brazil or China. The resultant product can be reformulated to be used in a clean label application to improve nutritional content of a product; increase shelf-life; replace/reduce an unwanted ingredient, such as sugar, fat or gluten; modify the texture of a foodstuff or make consumer-friendly labelling more easy to achieve.

Of course, at all times, maintaining product integrity is essential. As Short notes: “The consumer has become much more aware of taste and texture and fulfilling that need for a positive eating experience. This is especially true when we are talking about fat replacement. Previously, the consumer would recognise that they would have to compromise on taste if they want to eat a reduced fat product. Today, if that product does not fully meet expectations, they will not choose it again. Of course, for the manufacturer this is bad news, because the consumer is less likely to buy the product again. They are more likely to stop eating that product altogether, or eat less of the full fat equivalent.”

“Sugar reduction is even harder to achieve, because not only does the consumer expect the same sweet taste, but sugar often adds to the functional integrity of the product as it can control water activity, texture and mouthfeel, as well as taste. In this case matching a technical ingredient is not so easy and working closely with the customer on an application-by-application basis is essential.”

There is no legal definition of “clean label,” but it is generally accepted as meaning no genetically modified ingredients, no E numbers and a consumer-friendly back of pack declaration; this means that all the ingredients have to be easy for the consumer to understand. Ulrick & Short ensures that all of its products are processed naturally so that the pack declaration remains consumer-friendly.

The area where demand for new product innovations has been rife has overwhelmingly been in the bakery/morning goods market. “Products such as cakes and muffins with fillings or additions are a huge area. Producers are trying to maintain the product’s integrity, while fulfilling the demands of clean label manufacturing.

“Processed meat products are also in demand, as are ‘wet’ products like sauces, dips, relishes and gravies. They all need to maintain shelf-life, keep their consistency, increasingly have reduced sugar and fat content, and still taste as good as before. There is also a cost implication to all this, and manufacturers of course want that same great product for the same price as with a chemically derived product.”

“We think, that by working together to achieve a solution, we can provide that same product with a good price point,” says Short.

Short sees the breakfast cereals market as one that will see big changes in its product formulations soon as it is being hit hard by demands for reduced sugar. This is especially important due to its links with the rise in childhood obesity and it is often coupled with soft drinks as a leading cause of the disease.

“Even with the addition of nuts, dried fruit and oats, as well as fortification with certain vitamins & minerals, breakfast cereals will be hit hard, and this is because of the high sugar content. Consumers are becoming more aware and are looking for less refined sugar,” says Short.

The biggest market for clean label products is the UK, which has seen the most launches in the EU region. However, there is strong growth outside the UK as other countries, particularly Ireland, France, Germany and The Netherlands run with the trend. One of the biggest potential markets for Ulrick & Short, though, and the one that will see big investment in the future, is the Middle East.

Short explains: “The Middle East and North Africa (METNA) region is hugely exciting at the moment. There is a long-standing trend for sweet products in this region and it is also suffering big increases in obesity and Type-2 diabetes in recent years. With a population of approximately 500 million and diverse cultural changes, the demand for fat and sugar replacement is huge. This will be a key focus for us in the near future, and will probably result in a base in the Middle East in the next three years.”

At the moment, however, staying competitive and investing in state of the art equipment is the key focus for Ulrick & Short. Short says: “This year will see further investment in equipment and table-top technology that will allow us to demonstrate ingredients more effectively to customers. This equipment will help us stay competitive.”

Staying competitive is always an issue for a small company such as Ulrick & Short, but Short thinks that finding the right price point is possible while maintaining a high quality product.

“We tend to work with medium to very large food manufacturers, and although our size is small compared to many of our competitors, that allows a degree of flexibility and we can adapt quickly to demands. Our size also allows a very personal service and the ability to prioritise when required. All our field sales staff are qualified technologists; which allows us to carry out some new product development with customers in their own facilities. This personal service keeps overheads tight and appeals to customers.”

Adapting existing products ensures that the final product is unique and fits perfectly with the remit. Ulrick & Short has developed around 150 clean label ingredients and the company is constantly working on adding innovative new ingredients to the range.

The future is indeed looking bright for Ulrick & Short. The company has strong ambitions to grow its business and it wants to be seen as doing business in a technical, consultative way with its customers. With nutrition becoming increasingly important to the consumer, Short sees its product range in the future having a heavy focus on nutrition and satisfying health claims, and with the company’s flexibility in sourcing different raw materials, there may be a major move towards more nutrient-based offerings.

By Kelly Worgan