Innovation
New ingredients launched for high protein, low sugar bar formulations
Formulating high protein, low sugar bars comes with challenges. We have developed three new ingredients specially formulated to support you in overcoming them.
23 Apr 2020
3 min
Our experts explain how these ingredients will answer your high protein, low sugar formulation needs
On-the-go snacking plays an important role in enabling those with busy lifestyles to obtain the nutrition they need. Snack bars, and especially protein bars, are one of the primary and most convenient snacking options people chose to keep them feeling full and fuelled across the day. But with rising health consciousness, there is an equal demand for reduced sugar content.
We have developed three new ingredients that address your formulation challenges and will enable you to deliver on consumer demands:
NZMPTM Optibar 892 - A whey protein isolate that is more cohesive and helps fine-tuning texture and composition.
NZMPTM SoftBar 1000 - A milk protein that is exceptionally soft and gives a relatively short chew to bar formulations.
NZMPTM ShortBar 825 - A very unique lactalbumin ingredient which offers a short or crumbly texture.
What we see these ingredients doing is enabling that aspirational trend of one gram of protein to one gram of sugar type composition but not being as chewy as some bars are today
Rachel Marshall | Technical Engagement Manager, Sports & Active Lifestyle
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NZMPTM has the broadest range of high performing protein ingredients for your bar applications.
Texture is considered one of the biggest challenges in formulating high-protein bars
Texture has been an ongoing challenge with bars, especially at higher protein levels, and even some of the most popular bars on the market are chewier than many consumers would prefer.
Whey based protein bars are particularly chewy, so options to counter this chewiness while also delivering a soft and stable texture is something consumers will enjoy.
“Often there are ingredients so soft you need to build texture and structure in the bar. If you’ve got other components in a bar that are too crumbly, NZMPTM Optibar 892 is really useful, low in lactose and sugar, and high in protein,” says Rachel Marshall.
Sometimes to formulate the best texture you need to use a mixture of ingredients to get you into the right zone. NZMPTM SoftBar 1000 is a softer ingredient designed to be used with other bar components such as NZMPTM OptiBar 892 or NZMPTM FlexBar 510, to counter their firming qualities.
Our goal is to give bar manufacturers the tools to most easily create optimal taste and texture in a high protein bar while meeting clean label and nutritional expectations.
Rachel adds, "Ingredients like calcium caseinate are often not perceived as 'clean label' to consumers as it's not a whey ingredient, so they would arguably prefer NZMPTM ShortBar 825, our new unique lactalbumin ingredient that is similar, but has those whey protein connotations."
The ability to formulate high protein bars that are softer for longer and less chewy enables bar brands to have broader consumer appeal.
Delivering on consumer demand
Steve Taylor, Food Chemistry Manager at Fonterra, spoke with NutritionInsight about how low sugar demand has bolstered NZMP's protein ingredient development for snack bars.
Meet the experts
Rachel Marshall
Technical Engagement Manager
Rachel is the Technical Engagement Manager for the Global Sports and Active Lifestyles Functional Nutrition Unit, working closely with global sales teams and customers to speed innovation and new consumer product launches
Steve Taylor
Food Chemistry Manager
Steve is a Food Chemistry Manager at the Fonterra Research and Development Centre in New Zealand.
Hear what Rachel Marshall, Technical Engagement Manager for Sport & Active Lifestyle, had to say to Dairy Reporter about how these three new ingredients solve many protein bar formulation challenges.