Company background:
The Good Sauce Company is a new start-up food business established by Terence Lesslar who wished to bring his Malaysian family recipe to market in the form of a Chilli sauce. Terence has lived in Northern Ireland for 15 years having moved from his native Malaysia to marry his Northern Irish wife.
Challenge:
Terence required expert technical support to develop his new chilli sauce, taking it from concept through to product prototype to ensure he could source and produce correctly, safely and consistently. He required support with skills in recipe standardisation, allergens, nutritional analysis, packaging and shelf life.
Solution:
In order to overcome this obstacle, Terence made contact with North West Regional College (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) and Foodovation Centre to avail of support. Firstly, The Foodovation Centre worked with Terence to refine his concept, working from his family recipe and considering ingredients that can be sourced to develop his new product.
After transferring some skills in initial recipe development and new product standardisation, training was provided in prototype development and initial production trials. The Foodovation Centre then assisted Terence to successfully apply for a £5,000 innovation voucher from Invest Northern Ireland.
With the support of the Innovation Voucher the Foodovation Centre team undertook further Recipe and Prototype Development and Standardisation and then progressed to focus group taste panel testing of the product. Following feedback and product refinement the Foodovation Centre assisted Terence with nutritional analysis, allergen and legal labelling advice and ingredient declarations.
Following shelf life testing utilising an accredited lab and organoleptic testing in the Foodovation Centre, the BSC assisted Terence to develop a new label for his product, incorporating augmented reality content, which is now ready for the market.
Impact:
On completion of the project Terence has successfully developed a Malaysian chilli sauce using his family recipe. The product has been shelf life tested and he has all the labelling completed to take his product to market.
Testimonial from Terence discussing the benefits of working with NWRC’s Foodovation Centre:
”My journey to develop my sauce and bring it to market is nearing its end. It would not have been possible without the InnovateUs programme and innovation voucher and assistance provided by NWRC’s Foodovation Centre and its dedicated staff. Even after the completion of my sauce development, I am still able to pick up the phone and have a discussion with the Centre about the development process.
”This to me is very crucial in the after sale process whereby support is still provided after the event. The likelihood of me going back to the Foodovation Centre to seek further assistance in future is very strong because of the positive experience I have had.
”I hope my testimonial will give encouragement to future businesses to engage with the Foodovation Centre to develop their product and bring it to market. For me, development is the first small step to the start of the journey to market, the journey is still a long way away but made easier with strong support.”
