New Product Development at Heinz Wattie's
Final steps
When the customer or Marketer has approved the factory trial/multi batch trials, what happens next?
The label is designed
Generally by this point the designer has come up with a few designs and the marketer chooses the best one (product name, product description, serving suggestions and the general layout of the label).
What does Product Development contribute?
The ingredient list and nutrition information plus any claims (such as '99% fat-free', 'no added flavours', 'no preservatives', 'high in fibre' etc), net weight and cooking instructions are provided by the Product Development team. Databases for ingredients may be used – these are linked to a spreadsheet that can calculate the nutrition information and also provide an ingredient list in descending order of weight. The database can also identify all the allergens that are present in the product.
Nutrition information sometimes needs to come from laboratory testing of the product, usually for any product with the Heart Foundation tick, or products like fries or hash-browns that are fried during the process. Under the new Food Standards Australia and New Zealand code, all human food must be labeled to show the presence of the following allergens:
- cereals containing gluten and their products (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt)
- crustacea and their products
- egg and egg products
- milk and milk products
- peanuts and their products
- soybeans and their products
- addedsulphites in concentrations of 10mg/kg or more
- tree nuts and sesame seeds and their products
ThProduct Development team then is responsible for checking that all this information is correctly transferred to the label.
What happens to the product next?
The Product Development team produces the final recipe information so that the recipe can be set up in the planning system, a final costing can be completed, and planners can plan the initial production run. They must provide the factory with the finished recipe including the method and specifications, ingredient check-lists, filling and packing specifications, line-sheets, quality control specifications and sterilisation data. Once the final costing has been approved on-site, the project must go back to the Executive Committee for approval to run.
What happens during the initial production run?
Members of the Product Development team will be present (again, no matter what time of the day or night!) to ensure that there are no issues with the product. Occasionally minor adjustments to the specifications will be needed. Thermal Processing staff will again check that the thermal process is adequate to kill all pathogenic bacteria.
What happens next?
The product follows the normal procedures for labelling and release. When the product appears on the shelf in the supermarket, the Product Development team says it is a great feeling to know they have had a part to play in providing new products for consumers.
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