Frontline Food Consultants and Engineers help to plan, design & formulate powdered beverages, from Research & development to production. Our beverage consulting services include sourcing ingredients, product formulation, and making sure they conform to all the legal requirements as well as food hygiene requirements. Our services help you formulate ready-to-mix powdered instant beverage products like protein shakes, energy drinks and flavored water mixes. FFCE also supports in plant and machinery setup, layout and design, packaging solutions, and other aspects with the aim of achieving optimum cost control in production. Sensory evaluation services and quality control or taste and texture analysis assists in guaranteeing that your powdered beverages respond to market trends for taste, texture, and ease of preparation.
What are Powdered Beverages?
These are drinks that are in a powdered form and intended to be prepared by dissolution in water, milk or any other liquid inclusion desired by the user. They consist of convenience foods such as fruit punch, soft drinks, flavors tea, and coffee as well as nutrient products, especially proteins and electrolyte solutions.
In formulating powdered beverages, some of the factors that have to be measured correctly include; active ingredients, Flavors, and sweeteners among others. The homogenization process is used to avoid the formation of lumps and ensure that the ingredients are well distributed uniformly inside liquid base while spray drying is utilized in the process of the drying of the liquid base where moisture is effectively removed by converting the product to a powder form and at the same time retaining the nutrients and flavor. Caking is prevented by careful quality control which includes testing of the product’s moisture content, pH adjustment may be used in an effort to maintain safe shelf life and easy solubility in water or other liquids. At different stages, quality control checking of sample results confirms that the end product offered to the market complies with quality, taste, and safety requirements.
There are several functional foods to make powdered beverages of which require several components. The mixing tanks are used where there are sweeteners, flavorants, active compounds such as proteins, vitamin and other like ingredients. To ensure that the product is easy to dissolve and amenable to the spray drying process and the end product is free flowing and most importantly shelf stable, spray dryers are used to spray dry the liquid formulation to produce the final powder. Homogenizers give a more appropriate particle size distribution and texture of the final products. Packaging machines then pack the powdered product into sachet, jar or pouch then the labelling and packing machines pack the products for the market.
Types of Powdered Beverages
- Fruit and synthetic Non-Alcoholic Drink
Profile:
With addition of natural or synthetic fruit enhancements and Natural or synthetic flavoring and sweetening agents.
They include; orange, lemon, strawberry and even tropical items among others.
Benefits:
Convenience: Ease of preparation whereby the doses are prepared by adding water only.
Variety: A large choice of flavors to meet people’s taste preferences.
Applications:
Home Use: Perfect for cocktail.
Institutional Use: employed in schools, camps and catering organizations.
- Among the different functional beverages, electrolyte powders recorded the highest Survey Leader percentage rating of 41 percent.
Profile:
Intended to help restore the level of electrolytes of the body and ensure that you are adequately moisturized.
This contains formulations such as ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) powder, readily available sports drink, and recovery drinks.
Benefits:
Hydration and Electrolyte Balance: Always useful, specially during high temperatures dehydration, sports or some diseases.
Convenience: Lightweight and simple to prepare and perfect for those times when you need a nibble and a sip.
Applications:
Medical Use: Applied at hospitals and such clinics to treat a condition known as rehydration therapy.
Sports and Fitness: Frequented by athletes and players due to their potassium-sodium chloride content.
- Products include food supplements, beverages which have nutritional value and product that are food related like functional drinks.
Profile:
Supplemented with vitamin and minerals and other nutrient ingredients.
Defined as foods replaced with products with similar nutrients through consumption of beverages with added protein.
Benefits:
Nutritional Support: Contains or contributes necessary nutrients as well as can satisfy certain dietary requirements.
Convenience: Convenient, quick and simple to prepare and eat ideal for people with no time to cook.
Applications:
Dietary Supplements: Taken in some sort of a healthy proportion or when aiming for a special dietary nutrient requirement.
Health and Wellness: Frequently used in many circles mainly wellness and fitness.
Stages of the Production of Powdered Beverages
The processing of powdered beverage contains several steps to control the quality, standard and taste of the product.
- Product Ingredients and their procurement.
Objective: Select ripe and fresh unprocessed ingredients for better taste and vitamin-rich healthy food. Process: Purchasing fruit extracts, sweeteners, vitamins, minerals, and flavourants from reliable sources. Particular care is taken towards the quality of the raw materials favored by true chefs are always fresh.
- Blending and Formulation
Objective: Design good and tasty combinations when considering different molecules. Process: Combinatorial extension of the two elemental ingredients in appropriate uniformity. This may include for instance, sweeteners, acids, colours, and other accessory functional ingredients such as electrolytes and vitamins. Substantial experimentation can be done to obtain the right flavor, dissolving properties, and shelf life.
- Drying and Powder Formation
Objective: Granulate the liquid mixture into a stable, convenient to use powder form. Process:
Spray Drying: One of the techniques where the liquid mixture is atomized into a hot air chamber, where the drops turn to fine powder.
Drum Drying: Another technique where the liquid is applied on the surface of a rotating heated drum and as it proceeds to dry, it is scraped of to and turns into powder.
- Quality Control and Testing
Objective: Guarantee the stability and high compliance with a standard of the received outcome. Process: Sensory analysis, a chemical and microbial investigation, and other related tests. Every batch is analyzed for flavor, moisture content and its solubility in water.
- Packaging and Labeling
Objective: Preserve the product and also inform the consumer. Process: Storing the powder in sealed plastic, polythene or glass containers or in sachets or jars to avoid the powder from getting wet. Examples of labels are nutrient declarations; declaration of other ingredients; cooking instructions; and best before and use by date.
Designing of Packaging Products for Powded Beverages
Protective packaging is necessary for the preservation of powdered products in terms of quality, freshness and ease of administration. Key packaging materials include:
- Sachets and Pouches
Materials:
Multi-layer Laminated Films: Great for sealing the skin and preventing moisture and air from getting to the powder which keeps the powder fresh for a very long time.
Foil Lining: Sometimes used to contain the loss of volatile aromas and flavors.
Applications:
Single-Serve Sachets: Such for single portion and portability.
Resealable Pouches: Good for large quanta to avoid spoilage since they take up much space when stored.
- Jars and Canisters
Materials:
Plastic Jars: Quite literally, a light type of glass that is non-breakable and generally used for mass packaging solutions.
Metal Canisters: Avails extremely good barrier to light and air, typically employed for higher-end merchandises.
Applications:
Home and Institutional Use: Appropriate for everyday use and keeping for some time.