Cargill: Meeting Nutri-Score labeling requirements with bakery reformulations
03 Feb 2025 | Cargill
We sit down with Ellie van der Burg, Cargill’s bakery marketing manager, to discuss the F&B giant’s latest efforts to tailor snack product formulations to stringent Nutri-Score labeling requirements. We discuss challenges the Nutri-Score system presents to the industry, opportunities to be found in these challenges, and Cargill’s recent brownie R&D.
Ellie Van der Berg, Cargill's bakery marketing manager.
Hi there.
Good morning.
Can you start by telling us what you would say are the main challenges the NutriScore system presents for F&B companies?
The NutriScore system aims to provide information on the nutritional value of food and beverage products, and in this way, enable consumers to make more nutritionally balanced choices.
It also requires food and beverage manufacturers to stay agile and be a bit more proactive in developing and reformulating products to achieve more favorable ratings.
Actually, at the end of 2023, the NutriScore algorithm was updated to reflect the latest scientific findings, and that had a mixed impact on product ratings.
Particularly, it introduced stricter rules on sugar content, and that can have an important impact on traditionally high sugar bakery products.
So, companies may need to reformulate their products to maintain or even achieve better ratings, which of course can be a complex and resource intensive process.
So we see that nutritional improvement is a key opportunity space for the bakery category and at Cargill, we are committed to support those customers that are, that want to improve the nutritional profile of their bakery applications.
Whether they're looking to showcase That on the nutritional label like the Nutri score or the traffic light system in the UK or maybe they're undergoing a silent reformulation strategy.
Either way, we have a full toolbox of solutions to help them succeed in their journey to nutritional improvement.
Brilliant, and you've had some new product releases recently geared towards meeting nuri score requirements.
Can you tell me a bit about them?
Yes, absolutely.
We've recently made significant progress in aligning our new product releases to provide solutions for nutritional improvement, particularly in the sweet bakery segment.
One of our most exciting recent developments is our entry into the nutri score race with brownies.
So why are we even talking about brownies?
We know that cakes and pastries represent the largest subcategory within the sweet bakery segment in terms of volume, value, and new product development.
And within that subcategory, actually, brownies are among the top 5 applications for innovation.
They're showing a promising value growth of 4% and a growth of about 6% in new product launches.
However, traditionally, we have seen that brownies are not really associated with healthy indulgence and actually, most of the products on the market have a nutrient score D or E.
And we knew that this application would be quite a challenge, but we were really excited to take it on.
So to demonstrate the possibilities, our application experts were able to achieve what once seemed impossible through their dedicated reformulation work.
So we were able to develop delicious brownies that also have significantly improved nutrient scores.
Starting from a reference recipe with a NutriScore E, we were able to develop a brownie prototype with a Nutriscore C that also carries claims like 30% sugar reduction, low in sodium, and high in fiber.
But we didn't just stop here, we continued working on and we were able to even achieve a NutriScore A in our brownie prototype.
That also carries a claim of 85% sugar reduction, low sodium, and high in fiber.
So this success was really underpinned by Cargill's broad portfolio of ingredients that enable nutritionally improved for reformulation, our deep technical expertise on the ingredient functionality, but also how these ingredients interact in the final application, and sensory insights to ensure our products meet consumers' expectations for taste, texture, and overall enjoyment.
Brilliant.
And how would you say Cargill is working more generally to help compliance with the system?
Yes, we consistently track market trends and do dedicated consumer studies.
An example that I can give is Cario's recent propriety research called Sweet Delight Decoding Consumer Decisions in Bakery, which reveals that even though indulgence remains the key purchase trigger for consumers, they also want the best of both worlds.
So they're looking for tasty products, but they also want nutritional improved profile.
They want an energy boost without the sugar rush, and they want portion control.
So as this line between indulgence and nutrition blurs, bakery manufacturers are seeking holistic solutions to address the growing consumer need for improved and nutritionally balanced profiles in cake applications.
And at Cargill, we're able to help customers meet these trends by supporting them on their journey to nutritional improvement through dedicated reformulation.
We can really be a one-stop shop bakery partner offering a comprehensive toolbox of holistic solutions where our Unparalleled portfolio of ingredients is further boosted by our deep technical and application expertise, and exactly this combination of portfolio and expertise enables us to achieve the best of both worlds, a nutritionally improved recipe with an indulgent experience.
Great.
And do you have any further innovations in the pipeline that are relevant to Nutrisco viability?
Yes, when improving the nutri score of a bakery application, there are actually 3 key steps to success that I would like to highlight.
First, it is all about reducing or replacing sugar.
So, at CRO, we're putting a lot of focus on innovations in the sugar reduction space to Further support nutrient score viability.
For example, our cargi-soluble fiber, which was also used in the brownie prototypes, enables significant sugar reduction, but it also helps to increase the amount of fiber in the final application, thus helping products achieve better nutritional ratings.
To further improve the scores, our experts have developed also methods to completely remove sugar from the dough, using a combination of cargill sweeteners such as Maldito and erythritol which proved to deliver the best sensory results.
The second step that I would like to highlight is the importance of delivering delicious chocolaty taste and color.
So another innovation that further enables sugar reduction, while also delivering this important color and taste, is Cargill's gherkin sweetie cocoa powder.
It provides a rich brown color and maintains a nice chocolatey flavor with low bitterness.
And in addition to that, we used Cargill's aerated chocolate chunks that make a chocolate name on pack possible, while also offering a smooth melt in mouth feel and an improved nutrient score based on the lower sugar and fat content.
And last but not least, achieving the right texture is really crucial.
So to maintain the iconic brownie texture that we all know and love, our experts stepped into Cargill's range of texturizers, including native corn starch and maltodextrin.
Here, the, the starch enhances the softness and the moistness of the brownie, while the maltodextrin adds texture to compensate for the sugar loss.
So all of these innovations reflect Cargill's commitment to help bakery manufacturers meet nutri score requirements while also delivering delicious products that consumers love.
Brilliant.
Ali, thank you.
