The pandemic has turned work and lifestyles upside-down for the past two years. New Work and New Normal are the keywords here. Lockdowns forced many people to work at home – and they learned to appreciate the advantages. There is no real turning back, and mobile work has become normal at many companies. But this change in work life requires new food concepts. Instead of cafeterias, many consumers now look to their own creations, and home cooking has become more popular than ever since the start of the pandemic. Market research has shown that many home chefs use kitchen helpers that make preparation easier and combine convenience with enjoyment. Whether pudding powders for boiling with milk and sugar, or sauces that just need a quick stir, convenience products are booming. So, Hydrosol supports food producers with a new line of Homemade concepts for dairy and deli foods. With these new products, consumers can make delicious desserts, ice creams, dips and pasta sauces with little effort.
Hydrosol offers two different kinds of compounds, all-in and integrated. The all-in compounds contain all the ingredients, including colourings, flavourings and seasonings. Manufacturers just need to fill the compounds into their own packaging and market them to the trade. With the integrated compounds, Hydrosol supplies all the necessary stabilising ingredients. The customer then adds certain components themselves. “We created the new product line to meet the wishes of food manufacturers,” reported Linda Eitelberger, Product Manager for Dairy and Deli Products at Hydrosol. “More and more customers had approached us in the recent past asking for compounds for end users, so they could respond to the strong demand in the market.”
New dimensions: Hand mixer instead of cutter
During development Hydrosol thought for the first time in terms of kitchen dimensions instead of large industrial scale. The recipes are adapted, not to the usual large-scale production lines, but instead to hand mixers and blenders. In every other way these consumer concepts are based on the same expertise as the company’s many solutions for industrial production. As a specialist for stabilising and texturing systems, Hydrosol has extensive expertise in the most varied food categories, which is of central importance for its Homemade products as well. “In the development of functional systems, we have long been attentive to enabling our industrial customers to make the desired products with the lowest possible effort, using our tailor-made systems,” said Linda Eitelberger. “We have now applied this knowledge to the new Homemade line.”
The line currently comprises seven different product concepts. There is a compound for vanilla pudding that needs only to be boiled with milk and sugar. It features a velvety sheen and creamy texture. The same goes for the flan with vanilla-caramel flavour, which after cooling has the desired gelled yet creamy structure. Another system can be used for a dessert that doesn’t even need cooking – just whip it up quickly to get a fluffy chocolate mousse with stable foam. For homemade ice cream Hydrosol has developed a flexible system that lets consumers make milk, fruit or yogurt ice cream.
For the deli section there are three different sauces. The all-in compound for homemade chipotle-style sauce comes with all seasonings and flavourings already in it. The consumer needs only stir it into water, for instant use as a dip or topping for meat or vegetables. Hydrosol also offers an all-in compound for a fast pasta sauce à la carbonara, with ham and cream flavour. It has the ideal consistency to adhere well to noodles. Finally, there’s a mayo sauce with 65 – 70 percent fat content that only needs to be stirred up cold with water, oil and vinegar.
“These new compounds are based on our proven Hydrobest and Stabimuls series stabilising systems, so they are absolutely dependable,” said Linda Eitelberger. Another advantage is that both the manufacturer and the consumer can refine the desserts and sauces individually by adding their own ingredients. The compounds are perfect for marketing with additional recipe ideas.
