Developing a new stir-fry sauce
Factory Trial
In February 2003, scale-up factory trials were carried out on five variants. The scale-up was from 2-5 litres in the lab to 500 litres in the factory. Issues arose around sauce viscosity, maintaining acidity balance, and changes in flavour due to longer cooking times. Several of the products required a further factory trial to adjust their ingredients.
As an example, technologists had to replace one ingredient starch in a product after it was found the original one broke down under the acid levels of the cooking conditions to produce an excessively thin product. The flavour remained acceptable, so it was not possible to reduce the added acidic ingredients. Therefore, the starch had to be changed to ensure it was robust under factory conditions.
By the end of March 2003, the marketing and production teams were satisfied with the single batch trial results for four of the variants. It was at this point that the fifth variant developed (Satay Sauce) was put on hold. There were major issues around the product thickness; while it was (just) acceptable in the lab it was unacceptable in a factory batch. The flavour was acceptable but when the product was cooked with meat and vegetables the sauce was too dry. Adding further water to the product decreased the intensity of the flavour. Due to time constraints it was decided to put this variant on hold and reconsider at a later date, as a line extension.
Extensive product testing was carried out on the finished products. Testing included microbiological testing against strict limits, product attribute testing against specifications, and shelf life testing.
Label development
The marketing team was responsible for label design, photography and general layout. The product development team was responsible for providing them with accurate information for the labelling's ingredient list, nutrition information panel, net weight, cooking instructions, and the storage instructions.
