As an entrepreneur or a CPG food company, you may have come up with a new and innovative food product idea that you believe will resonate with consumers. However, before you can launch your product to the masses, you need to scale up your production to meet demand. This process should always begin with a manufacturing trial that will mimic your production scale-up. Scaling up can be a daunting task, but it's a critical step towards bringing your product to market.
At The New Flavor, our mission is to guide and advise entrepreneurs and big brands in their food and beverage journey, helping them bring their visions to life. In this article, we will discuss the strategies and challenges faced when planning for a manufacturing trial of a food product and eventual production scale up, and how this information can be important in making business decisions with your product. Our vision is to see more business owners feel empowered to launch new and innovative products for consumers and continually seek ways to improve their product, increase their market share or profitability.
Scaling up a food product can be challenging. Manufacturing trials allow you an opportunity to test your formula on a large scale that should mimic your eventual production batch sizes to learn from and adjust any formulas or processes. There are several factors to consider when planning for a manufacturing trial. Listed below are those aspects of moving towards production scale up that you will be able to asses during a manufacturing trial. Keep in mind you may need to run more than one manufacturing trial to dial in everything needed for production scale up.
Recipe and Process Optimization
Equipment and Facilities
Cost
Regulatory Compliance
Testing and Quality Assurance
Partnerships and Relationships
Communication and Project Management
1. Recipe and Process Optimization:
Before scaling up production, it's important to optimize your recipe and process in the final manufacturing environment on the final manufacturing equipment to ensure consistency and quality parameters are met. During the manufacturing trial, the goal is to test and adjust your formula(s) in larger batches, and the process should be analyzed, monitored and recorded for efficient and effective production optimizations as you prepare to scale up production.
2. Equipment and Facilities:
Scaling up requires larger equipment and facilities, which can be expensive and require more space. It's essential to evaluate your current equipment and facilities and determine what additional resources you may need to produce your product to the gold standard you have developed. If you end up purchasing any additional processing equipment, we advise that you rerun your manufacturing trial to determine if the new equipment made the intended impact on your manufacturing process and altered the finished product in the way you had desired.
3. Cost:
Scaling up production can be costly, and it's important to have a clear understanding of the financial implications. You'll need to consider the costs of new equipment, facilities, labor, and ingredients, as well as the potential return on investment. A major step in determining your final costs for scaling up is through a Manufacturing Trial. The manufacturing trial will give you a better estimate of your final Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) by providing you with valuable production information such as yield, total manufacturing time for a run, packaging losses, etc.
4. Regulatory Compliance:
Regulations and compliance requirements can vary depending on your product and location. It's important to research and comply with all regulations to ensure your product is safe and legal for consumers. A manufacturing trial can provide you with representative samples that you can then use for any regulatory testing needs such as nutritional and food safety testing (see next point).
5. Testing and Quality Assurance:
Before launching your product, it's important to conduct testing and quality assurance to ensure that your product meets your standards and is safe for consumers. A manufacturing scale up trial can provide you with critical material that you can use for any final product testing. Such testing may include shelf-life studies, sensory evaluation, and microbial analysis.
6. Partnerships and Relationships:
Building relationships with suppliers, co-packers, and other industry partners can be critical in scaling up production. It's important to choose partners who share your values and can help you achieve your goals. Planning for a manufacturing trial can provide key insights on your vendors for scaling up, as you will need to procure and manufacture in quantities similar to regular production. Any challenges you face on ordering or material quality or manufacturing during the trial process can be a good indicator for the type of relationship you’ve built with your suppliers and what you can expect in the future.
7. Communication and Project Management:
Effective communication and project management are essential in any manufacturing trial. Clear and frequent communication with your team and partners can help ensure that everyone is on the same page, the objectives and goals of the trial are achieved and the project is moving forward as planned.
As a helpful tool I have put together a sample Manufacturing Trial Worksheet for you to download and use at your convenience.
Scaling up a food product can be a complex and challenging process, but it's a necessary step to bring your product to market. Manufacturing trials provide you with an opportunity for optimizing your recipe and process, evaluating your equipment and facilities, understanding the costs, complying with regulations, conducting testing and quality assurance, building and testing partnerships and relationships, and practicing effective communication and project management before scaling up. At The New Flavor, we're here to guide and advise you on your food and beverage journey, helping you bring your visions to life and empowering you to launch new and innovative products for consumers. With over a decade of experience scaling up products for large scale manufacturing, we’d love to help you launch a successful product into the market utilizing our skills. Contact The New Flavor today for more information.
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