ACI Group warns against ‘simple swap’ approach to healthier food and drink reformulation

The business’s comments follow new research from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and Argon & Co, published in ‘Operational realities of healthier product innovation’, which found that healthier product innovation can demand substantial investment. The report highlights individual reformulation projects costing millions of pounds, while 69% of the 16 manufacturers surveyed said they had experienced projects that failed to reach launch.

Karsten Smet, CEO of ACI Group, explained: “These figures won’t surprise anyone who has worked on a reformulation project. From the outside, cutting sugar, salt or saturated fat, or adding protein and fibre, can look like a straightforward substitution, but in reality, very few ingredients do just one job.

“Sugar is a good example. It sweetens, but it also provides bulk, controls water activity, affects browning and plays a role in texture and shelf life. Take it out and in solving one problem, we’ve opened up several others. The same is true of fat, salt and many of the ingredients brought in to replace them. Reformulating for a better nutritional profile is good in principle, but we have to understand the complexity first.”

ACI Group highlights how seemingly minor changes can ripple through the entire formulation and production process, triggering additional testing, adjustments on the line and, in some cases, compromises to taste or texture that consumers notice straight away.

Karsten continued: “There are lots of variables at play in a recipe, more than we might first think. That also means that a recipe might work perfectly during development, but then behave very differently at scale, or lose stability and shelf life. Demand for healthier food and drink will continue, and brands will respond to that. But successful reformulation needs an integrated understanding of how ingredients interact, not a series of one-for-one substitutions.”

According to ACI Group, the complexity of reformulation also presents opportunities for manufacturers to look beyond the immediate nutritional objective and consider wider improvements to product performance and supply chain efficiency.

“Reformulation can also create opportunities to improve resilience, simplify sourcing or reconsider how the overall formulation performs, rather than treating the project as a narrow ingredient substitution,” Karsten added.

“The key lies in bringing ingredient knowledge, supplier expertise and manufacturing reality together from the start. When you understand what each component is really doing, you can anticipate complications early, choose the right solutions and find a sensible balance between nutritional goals and commercial requirements.

“That's where a partner like ACI Group can add real value. Through our supplier relationships and ingredient expertise, we can help manufacturers explore options they may not have considered and understand the trade-offs before committing time and budget.”

Karsten concluded: “Ultimately, improving a product's nutritional profile is a worthwhile objective, but it only delivers a real benefit if the product makes it to launch, performs reliably in production and earns repeat purchases.”

To learn more about ACI Group and its portfolio of ingredients to the food & drink industry, visit https://acigroup.biz/.