Acumentia’s consultants are highly experienced in early stage formulation and product development across the full spectrum of foods and beverages, ingredients and processes, as well as possessing an in-depth understanding of the regulations that govern the current international market.

We are well placed to advise on the creation of healthier formulations, including low fat and reduced sugar and salt items, or fortified food forms.

We offer a hands-on approach to development projects supporting concept development through to commercialisation and everything in-between. Our consultants provide innovative solutions where industrial sectors overlap (food-pharma / pharma-food), such as functional foods, dietary supplements and controlled release products.

Our consultants have experience of working with ingredients like acids, carbohydrates, preservatives, flavours and polymers in areas such as beverage distillation, dietary supplement manufacture and condiment production. The range of services we currently offer includes:

  • Market review and product opportunity analysis…

  • New product development: working with multi-disciplinary teams to achieve product launches meeting budgetary, timing, legislative, production, shelf-life and marketing claim requirements…

  • Experimental design and technology review to produce lateral solutions for new and existing technical challenges…

  • Product optimisation for appearance, taste, texture and overall acceptability…

  • Ingredient rationalisation for functionality, quality, cost and overall product performance…

  • Production scale up and processing optimisation…

  • Contract manufacture sourcing.

Capabilities & Services

Testing & Analysis

Many of the analytical problems that arise during manufacturing are highly complex and associated with issues such as product development (specification and quality), patent challenges, regulatory approval, complaints and product functionality. Understanding the physical chemistry and material properties involved is often key to solving technical problems. Also precise compositional analysis is imperative to make sure your products conform to the rapidly changing legislation currently governing product manufacture.

A number of Acumentia consultants are professional analysts and have their own laboratories or have access to a number of well-equipped academic and commercial facilities for the measurement of important physical characteristics at each stage of the manufacturing process. Examples of available techniques include spectroscopy for structural analysis, physical methods for textural evaluation, wet methods for elemental and trace component determination and chromatography for mixtures.

Sensory evaluation and consumer product testing also form an integral part of the manufacture of nutritional products and Acumentia’s consultants possess a wealth of experience in the use of sensory evaluation for research and new product development, tailored marketing solutions and stringent quality control procedures, component determination, chromatography, and mass spectrometry for complex mixtures, taints and off-flavours.  

Manufacturing Support

Many of our consultants have worked at the cutting edge of food processing and manufacture and are very well placed to advise on equipment, processes, regulations, raw materials and ingredients, as well as to act as trouble shooters to solve production problems.

Acumentia consultants also have expertise in waste management, including waste treatment, reduction and recycling. We can provide advice on the latest treatment or recycling technologies as well as regulations addressing environmental performance. We help organisations to limit their impact on the environment and to improve sustainability and efficiency.

We take a hands-on approach, working in tandem with businesses, to create or support specifically engineered production solutions to meet your requirements for batch size, budget and output targets. We can advise on the latest technologies and regulations. We can provide an external management service, enabling you to effectively outsource aspects of your production where time and budget constraints prevent you from hiring full time staff.

Training

Coming from myriad backgrounds, not only food and beverage manufacturing, but also marketing, our consultants offer a range of tailored training solutions for both technical and business members of staff.

Whilst some examples of the courses we offer can be found below, our specialists can also devise seminars on particular topics specific to the needs of individual clients.

Courses include:

  • Flavours and flavour chemistry

  • Sensory evaluation

  • Natural and artificial sweeteners

  • Physical and colloidal science

  • ·Formulation development

  • Analytical chemistry

  • Food safety and hygiene

  • Quality assurance & QMS including GMP/GLP, MHRA, ISO, HACCP and BRC certification

Strategic Marketing & Communications

With many years of experience in the food and beverage industries, Acumentia consultants have a deep understanding of budgeting, ROI and the bottom line and know how to take products to market and optimise margins. As well as identifying your exclusive strengths and market opportunities, we carry out analysis of competitors and alternative solutions.

We offer support with:

  • Market research

  • Strategic marketing

  • Business development

  • Business research

  • Marketing communications – design, planning and implementation

  • Due diligence before an acquisition or merger

Food Safety & Hygiene

Acumentia has considerable expertise in hygiene and microbiology and can advise on maintaining high standards for both food hygiene and security. Our expertise covers a range of areas from chilled and frozen foods to fresh products stored at ambient temperatures. We can also provide advice on packaging and shelf-life as well as UK legislation to ensure your products comply with the latest regulations.

We provide a comprehensive food safety auditing service, in which our consultants personally inspect all aspects of your production and distribution chains to ensure the highest standards of quality and security are maintained. We work across the spectrum of food production from fresh fruit and vegetable production to ready meal manufacturing.

Our consultants are experts in biological media and can set up a comprehensive, rapid laboratory testing system.

Product Development & Innovation

Acumentia can offer our clients many years’ experience in the innovation of products, whether food, drink or healthcare. Innovation is at the core of successful business progression and our consultants have supported not only the major blue-chip companies in thinking and acting outside the box, but also helping entrepreneurs get off the ground with new ideas.

We are grounded in reality, up to date with technology, well-connected with suppliers of ingredients and manufacturing techniques and how these might be applied. We’re also very used to working as a part of a team and can suggest those from within our expert members who would be appropriate for such projects, as well as working on-site with your own team.