National Starch Launches New Bakery Cost-Reduction Solution

In addition to costs savings, HOMECRAFT Create 765 can help manufacturers improve the nutritional profile of their products by reducing total calories, calories from fat and grams of fat per serving.

23 Mar 2010 --- National Starch Food Innovation has introduced a new product for the North American market to reduce the cost of indulgent baked goods by reducing the fat content by as much as 60%. Based on National Starch’s unique specialty flour, HOMECRAFT Create 765 allows for the formulation of reduced-fat dessert mixes, cakes, pastries and cookies with texture and sensory properties that closely match a full-fat standard.

In addition, HOMECRAFT Create 765 can bring processing benefits by reducing the fat fraction in the raw materials to improve transport and mixing. HOMECRAFT Create 765 carries a wheat flour label declaration, so producers do not have to change their ingredients list.

“The cost savings for producers can be significant,” states Bob Allin, marketing director, North America. “HOMECRAFT Create 765 could save $.08 on a unit of dry mix. If a company produces 1 million units, the savings could add up to $80,000.” The company also has data on fat and cost reduction for ready-to-eat products.

In addition to costs savings, HOMECRAFT Create 765 can help manufacturers improve the nutritional profile of their products by reducing total calories, calories from fat and grams of fat per serving. In a sample brownie formulation, a 25% reduction in fat (from 8 g to 6 g) led to a 20 calorie decrease in total calories and calories from fat in a 28 g serving. The company’s bakery applications team can assist formulators in calculating the calorie and fat reductions to help determine if their products qualify for a reduced calorie or reduced fat claim.

National Starch maintains that the fat reductions with its new approach do not negatively impact texture. “Since texture is a critical component in the success of an indulgent baked good, our team has addressed concerns about the affects of fat reduction on taste and texture,” says Allin. “We’ve done extensive sensory evaluation of the many properties that go into good eating qualities of indulgent baked goods, like brownies.

“We’ve plotted all these characteristics and compared a traditional full fat dry mix brownie with our 25% and 60% fat reduction samples, matching properties such as fatty/greasy mouthcoat, chewiness and hardness — first bite, plus the other seven properties that define desirable texture in baked goods. The bottom line: dry mix manufacturers can reduce fat by 25% or 60% and still deliver to their customers the indulgence, chewiness and satisfaction they expect when they bite into an indulgent baked good.”