Kathrin Vantsch, Lead Corporate Nutrition Service, Dietitian, Dr. Schär
In Dr. Schär’s Research and Development (R&D) department, there is an ongoing urge to develop new products and improve existing ones. Product optimisation can take place at various levels. We improve products with respect to their taste, as well as their texture or nutritional value. We also evaluate our competitors’ products and take our customers’ taste requirements and preferences into account. To do this, we at Dr. Schär conduct regular consumer surveys and tastings.
Small changes yield big effects
The goal of Dr. Schär’s R&D department is to make good products even better. In many cases, these improvements are just minimal and not directly noticeable for the consumer. For instance, if an ingredient with a negative image, such as palm oil, is replaced, the R&D department endeavours to make sure that no compromises to the product’s organoleptic or nutritional properties occur. We continue to refine and optimise the product in order to best serve the customers.
Successful product improvements
The greatest challenge associated with developing and optimising products entails offsetting the missing binding capacity of gluten as perfectly as possible by using other ingredients. At the same time, factors such as taste, appearance and nutritional value must not suffer as a result of the substitution. Below, we present a few examples to demonstrate the achievements made by Dr Schär in terms of product improvement over recent years.