April 04, 2025

Reimagining Reformulation: What Could Go Wrong?

The author details what to consider when embarking on a product reformulation process, including prework planning, consumer demand, and costs, and how to minimize or troubleshoot inevitable bumps in the road.

Realistic Aluminium Cans Collection in different colors

Renee Leber

Food Technology Magazine

Reformulation Planning

Learn what to consider when embarking on a product reformulation process, including prework planning, consumer demand, and costs.
Cross-Functional Collaboration

Find out why it is important to pull in the right people at the right time throughout a reformulation project, including from the manufacturing plant and co-manufacturers.
Reformulation Process

Understand the basic steps to take during the reformulation process and how to minimize or troubleshoot inevitable bumps in the road.

Imagine this scene: A company has been selling a branded bread for years. Its loyal customer base has raised questions about a potential clean label version. The company has decided to do a reformulation looking at this as a fairly straightforward ingredient swap. The company will switch to natural preservatives within the formulation. They can run out the packaging before ordering new packaging. Altogether, it’s a minimal cost reformulation in response to consumer demand.

However, a few weeks later, the company starts receiving complaints that the bread no longer has the same shelf life.

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Authors

Renee Leber Manager

Renee Leber is food science and technical services manager at the Institute of Food Technologists with over ten years of product development experience. An expert in food additives and ingredients, she leads IFT’s Concierge Service, helping teams across the globe find solutions to everyday product development challenges. At IFT, Renee meets with R&D teams and provides ready-to-access research and resources allowing them to overcome hurdles like shelf life, reformulation, food quality and safety, and regulatory compliance.