RM PhD. Technical and Development Consultancy for the Food, Beverage and Supplement Industries.
Product Development
The Typical Stages of Product Development
1) Pre-acceptance Meeting
Description: Your chance to ask any questions and let me know what your project is about before a formal proposal is drafted. This helps fully define the scope of what you need and how you would like it delivered.
Deliverables: Meeting notes outlining what was discussed.
2) Formal Proposal
Description: I draft our contract, define the prices and deliverables before work begins. This ensures that we're both on the same page about what will be delivered and when.
Deliverables: The formal project proposal outlining each step of the process bespoke to what you need.
3) Research & Due Diligence
Description: A bit of background research to fill in any gaps in my knowledge, make fully sure that the project is entirely possible within the parameters you have set and that it is capable of meeting your commercial goals. This lets me highlight any risks or red flags before moving into the more expensive stages of development.
Deliverables: A document outlining my findings.
4) Ideation & Market Research
Description: This is for if you haven't fully fleshed out your idea yet or want a bit of a steer on what will be best commercially before the project really begins. I look at the food trends, flavour trends and other sources of information to make clear suggestions on what might be best for your product or brand.
Deliverables: Typically a powerpoint presentation of my findings. Presented to you via video call and with the document then added to the shared drive.
5) Competitor Analysis
Description: A look at what is already available in the market and how successful it is. This helps with finding those opportunities to do something better or different, helping your brand or product stand out from the rest. On the flip side it could also help redirect a project that was heading towards a fully saturated market.
Deliverables: A document or presentation on the findings of the research delivered via video call and then added to the shared drive.
6) Theoretical Recipe
Development
Description: Using my resources and knowledge to put together a starting recipe that will form the basis of the actual development stages.
Deliverables: Recipe sheets outlining those starting points for your review before ingredients are ordered.
7) Claims Compliance
Description: Using those theoretical recipes to ensure that any goals you set for nutrition or health claims would be met by this recipe if it is successful. Also helps to define the parameters I have to work to in order to ensure those targets are met. This goes hand in hand with the technical option.
Deliverables: A formal report demonstrating that the parameters would be met.
8) Ingredient &
Equipment Sourcing
Description: Sourcing the key ingredients I will need to make the samples of your product. This can be either as samples direct from industry suppliers or from retail sources depending on the scope of your project. If directed I will also request supply details like specifications, costs and minimum order quantities from key suppliers.
Deliverables: All documentation associated with the ingredients chosen.
9) Sample Creation
Description: This is the fun bit. I make your product at bench scale (in my kitchen), make adjustments to my tastes and to make sue the product hits your targets and then ship you a first draft to gauge your opinions. This can be as many different versions as you want to trial.
Deliverables: A set of your samples for you to try and provide your feedback on.
10) Gather Feedback and
Adjust Recipe
Description: Using your feedback to redraft the recipes, make new samples and ship them out to you again. This process gets repeated as many times as necessary for you to be happy. At the end of the day this is your product.
Deliverables: Product samples, as many different versions or variants as necessary.
11) Client Sign Off
Description: Once you have told me you are fully happy with everything, it is time for that final meeting. This is where we make sure that you have everything you need. All documentation is in the shared drive and that everything is complete and in its final version.
Deliverables: Just that final video call to wrap everything up & a bit of feedback on how you think everything went.
12) Sourcing of Manufacturers
Description: If you didn't already have a manufacturer in mind, now that the product is fully ready for market, its time to find one. I can support with finding someone capable of making your product, to the right standards and at the right quantities to suit your goals. I reach out to perspectives, provide details of the product under NDA and ask the questions you need answers to.
Deliverables: A short list and the contact details for suitable manufacturers based on parameters that you have set.
14) Handover
Description: That final handover meeting. Once you have everything you need & the product is being made at the chosen manufacturer then that is all from me. One final check that you have everything and you are comfortable with how everything works from here on out, my job is done.
Deliverables: A checklist that details everything done, where you will find the information and any relevant future dates that you need to be aware of.
13) Assist with Branding and Marketing Recommendations
Description: Marketing your product can be a difficult task as you are quite limited in what you are legally able to say. This is particularly challenging for health food or functional food products. My goal here is to give you a steer on what you can and cant say in marketing information. As well as how to word things to fit within the grey areas of legislation.
Deliverables: This will be fairly unique to the product we are working on but typically I will look at what you want to include and try to find suitable wording which won't result in any claims for it being misleading.
There are a quite few bits of technical work which add real value to a product development project. These are a few that I recommend considering but anything else you might need from my technical page can be included in any project too.
Ingredient Compliance / Novel Foods
Description: There's a few reasons you might need me to check these things. If you are making functional foods or health foods with novel ingredients it is prudent to check if there are any legal restrictions on your as not every ingredient is permitted in every product category or there may be limits on the quantities you are allowed to use. Similarly if you are looking to make traditional foods using ingredients only really found in your home country, we need to make sure they are allowed to be imported into the EU/UK or wherever you intend to sell your product.
Deliverables: A detailed report demonstrating the searches performed and the results. If any restrictions are found, I will also discuss options.
Optional Technical Extras
Claims Compliance
Description: This is particularly important if you are making supplements, health foods or other functional food products as you need to ensure that you are compliant with the requirements to label that claim on your product. Whether that is a nutrition based claim or a health claim - these checks ensure your product is going to meet the requirements or if not your recipe can be adjusted at the next stage to ensure that it does.
Deliverables: A report demonstrating the requirements of each claim and how the product meets the targets, or will do after some adjustment to the recipe.
Lab Testing
Description: As part of the process I can send off samples of your product for lab testing. This can be anything from shelf life testing, nutritional testing, quality testing, other safety testing such as water activity or pH and microbiology. Although I would really only recommend microbiology testing is done on your finished product made at a manufacturer.
Deliverables: Lab reports, certificates and summary of the results with a description of what they mean for you.
Pack Copy
Description: One of the most important things to get right on a product as most recalls are due to packaging mistakes. Pack copy means me arranging all of the information needed for your packaging from the work done so far.
Deliverables: A document detailing every point that needs to go on your packaging (Legal naming, Net quantity, ingredients list, traceability information, storage conditions, instructions for use, nutritional information, Address ect.) which can be used by a designer to put together your packaging design.
Document Drafting
Description: You will likely get quite a wide range of document requests across a products life. From potential stockists wanting detailed specifications in their format to manufacturers needing various bits of information to comply with audit standards. It can be overwhelming but this is a world I am comfortable in.
Deliverables: Any documents completed to the satisfaction of whoever requires them.
Consumer Paneling
Description: This can take 2 forms. 1) We work together to draft a set of questions that will provide valuable insight about your product following best practices for sensory trials / organoleptic testing. I have a small group of panelists that I can make and deliver samples to so that they can try it and complete the survey. I collate the results and provide a detailed analysis. 2) I work with you to draft the study and make the samples for you to distribute to your own group of people.
Either way this is usually followed by further adjusting the recipes.
Deliverables: 1) the fully formatted study template, the results and a detailed analysis. 2) the fully formatted study and enough samples for you to run it.
Retailer Policy Compliance
Description: Some of the retailers have very strict requirements. Details like limits on certain ingredients, where ingredients are able to come from and conditions for how certain products are made. The retailers tend to have hundreds of pages of policy documents which can be an overwhelming minefield of information. If you have a retailer in mind for your product these checks are best done early on in the process so that the product can be designed to comply with policies from the start.
Deliverables: A report detailing relevant policy information for the retailer in question, how to ensure the product complies.
Formal Specifications
Description: Another challenging area made difficult by the vast amounts of information required. Drafting a simple specification involves putting together all of the key details about what makes your product. The difficulty comes when it comes to selling your product as almost every potential stockist / retailer has their own format, their own set of information which they uniquely ask for and their own nuances on how they like it presented.
Deliverables: A formal product specification to meet the requirements you have.
Legal Labelling and
Artwork Checks
Description: I am fully qualified to ensure that the artwork drafted for each product and any product labels meet legal requirements. This involves over 150 points of legislation (variable depending on the product type)
Deliverables: A comprehensive report that details which areas need correction to meet legal requirements and how to correct them.
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