A Sunshine Coast fruit processing company has helped a fast-growing fitness brand turn an ambitious product brief into 10 new high protein fruit snacks.
Tropico Fruits at Yandina worked alongside Muscle Nation to develop yoghurt pouch flavours for a national launch and has subsequently developed two more flavours for the fitness brand’s pots and tub range.
Tropico was referred to the fitness brand by an existing customer.
The brief required a food-safe accredited development partner capable of creating bespoke flavours while working within strict technical and commercial requirements.
The team began by reviewing the customer’s brief and developing a flavour strategy, eventually shortlisting 20 concepts for initial sampling.
Once the customer’s yoghurt base arrived, Tropico’s food technologists began matching it with formulations, considering everything from flavour, colour and sweetness to nutritional inclusions, ingredient preferences and shelf-life stability.
New product development lead Nadia Cairns said the process involved much more than identifying flavours that were on trend.
“Keeping across emerging trends is an important part of what we do, but the real value comes from understanding how to translate those trends into products that consumers will genuinely enjoy,” Ms Cairns said.
“We are constantly exploring new flavours, ingredients and concepts.
“We draw inspiration from what we see in Australia and internationally, as well as from our ingredient partners, customers and the wider food industry.”
Commercial manager Melvin Warren explained when Tropico works with a customer, it doesn’t simply develop a flavour in isolation.
“We consider the complete application – how the fruit and flavour interact with the dairy base, the balance of sweetness and acidity, texture, stability, processing conditions and ultimately how the product will perform at commercial scale,” he said.
The formulations also needed to meet the brand’s target cost and price points.
While some flavours were approved quickly, others underwent several rounds of refinement before achieving the desired profile.
The customer was also able to join Tropico’s team on-site for tasting and adjustment sessions, allowing decisions to be made quickly and helping streamline the development process.
Once the 10 formulations were approved, Tropico moved into full-scale factory trials using its dedicated formulated product line.
The resulting batches were supplied to the partnering dairy manufacturer for packing trials, helping bring together the retailer, manufacturer and Muscle Nation ahead of the national launch.
CFO Aleisha Hubbucks said commercial considerations were an important part of the development process from the outset.
“Successful product development is about much more than creating a great flavour,” Ms Hubbucks said.
“From the outset, our new product development and commercial teams consider how a concept will translate into a product that can be manufactured consistently, efficiently and at a price-point that works in the market.
“There are many factors behind that – ingredient availability, minimum order quantities, shelf life, supply continuity and production efficiency all need to be considered alongside taste and functionality.”
The project resulted in 10 shelf-ready yoghurt pouch flavours.
“It demonstrates how Tropico’s product development capabilities can take a customer from an initial idea through formulation, factory trials and ultimately to commercial production,” Mr Warren said.
Tropico works alongside many business partners. The company’s collaboration with organic yoghurt company, five:am, demonstrates how the right fruit ingredient can help shape a distinctive yoghurt range.
“Tropico sources organic fruit and uses its product development expertise to create preparations and bases tailored to five:am’s different products and the consumers they serve,” Mr Warren said.
“The result is fruit solutions designed to complement five:am’s organic dairy yoghurt while delivering the flavour and consistency needed across the range.”
Mr Warren said projects such as the Muscle Nation and five:am collaborations reflected the broader role Tropico was seeking to play in helping food and beverage brands develop products for the Australian market.
“We’re proud to support Australian growers while offering juice and dairy manufacturers a reliable, all-in-one fruit solution, backed by a strong in-house supply chain and diversified product portfolio.”
