Investment all starts in the kitchen
Turning culinary visions into reality can seem daunting, but with ingredient suppliers investing in new product development (NPD) and showcasing the potential of their solutions, the possibilities are endless.
National Starch Food Innovation, for example, recently opened its Concept Kitchen in the UK, which will play host to demonstrations, interactive customer visits and hands-on sessions with commercial chefs. I recently gave demonstrations at the opening of its state-of the-art facility in Manchester.
The ability to showcase a company's ingredients in an inspiring environment, in any number of creative dishes, helps ingredient specialists to appeal to customers' emotions and show them how easy it is to create exciting foods.
With many apparent conflicts in modern consumer demands healthy but tasty, natural but indulgent, economical but high quality investment in NPD is more critical than ever to ensure you are always one step ahead. Firms like National Starch Food Innovation take on much of the hard work so that speed to market and efficiencies are maximised.
For example, showing manufacturers how easy it is to make a cost-reduced tomato sauce that tastes, looks and feels as good as a more costly alternative is a powerful tool, especially when they can taste and analyse the result, experiencing how an ingredient can transform their products.
As a chef, there is no greater pleasure than putting a smile on someone's face whether you're cooking for family, friends, colleagues or food manufacturers as they savour the smell of future success. Business is business, but for us chefs, it all starts in the kitchen.
Chris Lightfoot is consultant innovation chef at National Starch Food Innovation.
Contact him at: clightfoot1@aol.com
