Industrial scale-up of the first all-natural solid fat based on olive oil to produce healthier bakery foods

Project Information

CreamOlive

Grant agreement ID: 827826

DOI

10.3030/827826

Project closed

EC signature date 2 August 2018

Start date 1 July 2018

End date 31 December 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

MIDA PIU SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CreamOlive (Industrial scale-up of the first all-natural solid fat based on olive oil to produce healthier bakery foods)

Reporting period: 2018-07-01 to 2018-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Bread and bakery products are amongst the most popular items in the consumer’s shopping basket, as proved by the 40 million Tons of bread, patisserie and savoury pastry consumed every year just in the EU.
Although baked goods differ greatly in form and structure, they usually contain significant portions of bakery fats (up to 40%). Hence, the amount and quality of the fat used has a significant influence on the overall nutritional value of the products we eat. Relevant health issues as obesity, diabetes and coronary disease have been clearly associated with a high consumption of trans fat and saturated fat, boosting the consumers’ demand for healthier food and “clean” labels.
Producers of bakery food are diverting to margarines - alternatives to the mainstream palm oil- which are claimed to be low-fat and natural, but they still fail to address the high-demanding consumers’ requests for their wellbeing.
Mida+ has engineered CreamOlive, the first bakery fat based on olive oil which presents the same properties and texture of palm oil or butter, but with a perfectly healthy composition and “clean label”.
Mida+’s patented process allows to obtain a product based on olive oil but solid at room temperature and easily workable, thus fulfilling the requirements for industrial and artisan bakery production processes.
During this six-month feasibility study we assessed the potential of the introduction of CreamOlive in large scale and high throughput production processes, thus validating the transition of our technology from the artisanal bakery market to the large industrial production.
Mida+ development roadmap now focusses on expanding the European and international network of stakeholders and strengthening the relationships with potential partners so as to conduct extensive pilot trials (Phase 2), and further optimize and validate the product performances in a real mass scale production.
This will pave the way for the final commercialization of CreamOlive starting from 2021, first to small and medium companies and then expanding to large bakery producers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

This Phase 1 project focused on validating the feasibility of the transition of the CreamOlive technology to the industrial production of bakery goods. In order to do so, we interacted with more than 120 small, medium and large companies which enabled us to collect relevant information for defining the product specifications and customers’ requirements in terms of expected performances of the CreamOlive fat. The information collected resulted in product optimization and in the definition of the future actions to undertake in order to move the business towards the industrial commercialization.
The strenuous technical implementation in terms of ingredient formula and production process, resulted in a product with longer shelf-life, better taste, and improved mechanical properties that were highly appreciated by our customers. We also ran preliminary in-field experiments with dozens of our customers which assessed our product samples and allowed us to validate the CreamOlive performances in a real industrial scenario.
The business feasibility of our project was also analysed leveraging on the feedback collected.
We assessed the interest in adopting an alternative and healthier solution to the currently used fats and
margarines, confirming that the healthy and perfectly clean label of the CreamOlive is recognised as the main purchasing factor. We also collected a vast number of positive feedback on the qualitative and tasting features of our innovative fat, which enables the production of high-quality finished products and can be easily targeted to all kinds of industrial applications.
During the Phase 1 project we also gained a deeper knowledge of our national and European addressable market and consolidated our business model. Finally, along with a detailed financial plan, we defined the future development plan comprising progressive investment rounds for the optimization of the production process and the market launch.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After several years in which palm oil seemed to dominate the edible fat market, the last decade has drawn a much more complex scenario in the bakery fat sector. Alternative vegetable margarines (in most cases shea butter or cocoa butter mixed with liquid oils), butter or liquids oils are the only alternatives currently available for those producers striving to find a healthier solution in terms of fat content of their products. Anyway, they all fail to combine taste and adaptability to the industrial processes with a healthy nutritional composition.
Thanks to the optimization activities carried out so far, and to the vast number of feedback collected from our customers testing sample batches of CreamOlive, we were able to identify the key factors where CreamOlive clearly overcome the competing solutions:
1) Healthiness, which is the clear hallmark of the CreamOlive due to the high composition in olive oil. Our product shows a low saturated fat content and the highest percentage of monounsaturated fat of all the available margarines, together with the beneficial attributes of olive oil.
2) Adaptability to industrial processes, proved by the CreamOlive perfect capacity to merge with dough and its unparalleled capacity to integrate air during mixing, thus ensuring high quality and palatability of the finished product.
3) Market reach: the selected ingredients and unique healthy properties, make CreamOlive the only bakery fat available on the suitable for a large number of consumers’ categories (i.e. allergies specialties, vegan, gluten and lactose free, health-restricted diet), that are targeted simultaneously for the very first time.
Leveraging on such competitive advantages of CreamOlive, Mida+ will pursue its final ambition to manufacture a well-rounded and versatile product, which will constitute an innovative and top-performing industrial fat for all kind of applications, thus bringing quality and healthiness directly on the consumers’ table.

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