Welsh innovation project boosts bakery NPD

Project Hexagon brought together four Welsh bakery companies to work with NPD experts from Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Zero2Five Food Industry Centre and ingredients firm Univar Solutions. Using Univar’s ingredients, Zero2Five carried out a number of trials for each company to help them develop their products.

These included enriching sandwich-maker Panini’s gluten-free bread with protein and helping The Bake Shed make its gluten-free luxury caramel shortbread less crumbly.

Vegan setting agent ​

Meanwhile, Cwmbran-based La Crème Patisserie was looking to develop a vegan setting agent for use in its range of cheesecakes, mousses and panna cottas, as its existing product was very soft-set.

 Following trials, the company identified two plant-based stabilisers and thickening agents, which gave the desired performance.

“It has been fantastic to call on the technical expertise of Zero2Five and work with an ingredients manufacturer that I would never normally have access to,” ​said La Crème Patisserie managing director Sian Hindle.

“This has allowed me to create innovative products that my customers are increasingly demanding, which I hope will result in increased sales and markets,”​ Hindle added.