The company said that the new Industrial Patisserie Competence Center (IPPC) aims to get a better understanding of the special requirements of the industrial patisserie sector by developing industrial applications in tandem with their customers.
Pierre Tossut, group R&D director, explained that the IPPC will assist patisserie manufacturers in terms of ingredients, recipes and nutrition value from the process stage right through to sensory evaluation looking at crunch and texture.
He said that at that a fully equipped test centre for technological innovation is the engine of the new centre, and provides customers with the facilities and tools to research and test final applications before scaling up on their own production line.
"Puratos aims to be the expert on patisserie applications to better support its customers by understanding how their ingredients behave in industrial processes and with industrial equipment," continued Tossut.
“We want to help our customers further expand their business by faster developing new products together, introduce new ingredients on their line more efficiently and optimize their production lines by providing them with solutions already tested and developed for real production environments,” he added.
The Puratos’ R&D director recently told our sister site Foodnavigator.com how bakery products can be given a healthy edge by reducing the salt and fat content – and how the technical challenges can be overcome.
Health and wellness is a major target for the food industry, as new guidelines are drawn up for salt and saturated fat levels in products. But it is not a simple matter of taking out the nutrients that should be consumed in moderation, as giving foods a healthy makeover can pose considerable technical challenges.
Tossut explained how fermentation products like sourdoughs can make up for salt content in bread, and added fibres and omega-3 can make a positive contribution to a product’s healthy profile.
For patisserie and chocolate products, not normally associated with healthy eating, the focus is on how to combine indulgence and nutrition. As well as reducing sugar and fat levels, more fruit may be used in fillings, and more fibre in cake mixes, said Tossut.
He said Puratos is also looking at boosting the antioxidant level of chocolate for use as an ingredient.