"Our objectives during this SME-1 project were:
- Further validate customer demand (customer´s voice) for both direct commercialisation food products, ingredient in functional foods, and encapsulated formula.
- Further reinforce and supply chain members already reached agreements, EU expansion: onion-producers.
- Develop an elaborated path to market: route to commercialisation:
o Assess the technological and economic viability gaps of FIBRACEP® direct commercialisation.
o Assess the technological and economic viability gaps of FIBRACEP as an ingredient in functional foods.
o Assess the technological and economic viability gaps of FIBRACEP® encapsulated formula.
Overview of Work Done.
From a general point of view, our partners thinks that consumers demand for additional benefits that go beyond basic nutrition are catered by functional foods and health supplements containing dietary fibres. Also, our partners see high consumer awareness about the foods they eat and the quality of the ingredients which is driving demand for dietary fibres.
Health conscious consumers driven by raising disposable incomes and changing lifestyle is creating demand for nutritional foods and in turn, the dietary fibres demand in functional foods and supplements. The increasingly ageing population is also driving the use of dietary supplements.
Consumers around the world are becoming increasingly health consciousness. They are shifting their preference from normal foods to foods that provide additional health benefits. The trend is visible not only in the developed regions, such as North America and Europe, but also in the developing regions, like Asia-Pacific, where consumers prefer fibre-rich noodles sold. The case is similar for processed meat and dairy products.
We contacted with the European onion association (EURONION) and now, we’re exploring several options in order to establish permanent and long-lasting partnerships.
Focusing efforts to the dietary supplements market, finally, we discarded the FIBRACEP encapsulated formula development. The low density of the product, apart from its posology, makes it infeasible for formulations in capsules or tablets. Despite this, we signed an agreement with other Spanish partner in order to explore the viability of a food for ""special medical purposes"" with FIBRACEP. We both validated the concept of develop a new Food for special medical purposes for the dietary management of the Metabolic syndrome (MetS) components. The final product concept is to develop a unique powder mix of soluble and insoluble dietary fibre called FIBRACEP.
We've developed some tests using FIBRACEP as an ingredient in different foods: sausages, burguers and bread, in collaboration with several partners. The feasibility assessment developed during this project confirms the technical and economic viability of FIBRACEP for its commercialization as an ingredient in new functional foods.
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