Journey With Traditional Seasonings – Flavoured Makhana

Situation:

Makhana (fox nut) is a highly nutritious , non-cereal food superior to dry fruits such as almonds, walnut, coconut and cashew nut in term of Carbohydrate, Protein, Ascorbic acid and Phenol content. Left to its own natural state, it may be unappetizing and unpopular, but when paired with right flavorings and spices, it not only excites the taste buds but goes to work on the mind. A food manufacturing company envisaged manufacturing of ready to eat makkana snacks in different flavours and introducing them in local market of Tamil Nadu. Being new to this segment, they fancied to have a consultant to work and develop the complete product that meets consumer needs.

Complication:

• Developing a piquant snack product
• Developing marketing strategy based on finger licking flavours
• Introducing traditional flavour into an industrial product
• Standardizing the specifications for raw ingredients to avoid variation in the commercial batches

Solution:

Food buddies took on the challenge and studied the complete science and methodology behind the manufacturing of flavoured makkana at industrial scale. Several product trials were conducted to formulate the recipe and optimize the content of the ingredients in order to obtain the desired traditional flavour profile.  Further, to ensure that there is no variation in the commercial batches, specifications for raw ingredients were set and vendors were identified accordingly. The process was iterated and as a result, three variants with authentic flavours were developed. The product exceeded the expectation, also retained much of its nutritional components than the conventional process and came out with the appealing taste and texture.

Conclusion:

Food Buddies exceeded the client and consumer expectations from the end product and hence, they successfully developed the Exotic Traditional flavours for makkana.