or Brian Surratt, there’s no such thing as a carefree day in the kitchen. If he’s whipping up a homemade take on a dairy standard, like a frozen dessert, flan or pudding, don’t expect him just to kick back and enjoy once it’s ready.
“Now you’ve got to compare it to your favorite branded version,” said Surratt, a senior scientist in dairy applications for Cargill Texturizing Solutions, Wayzata, Minn. “Is it different? How would you characterize that difference? What would you change to make homemade resemble store-bought, or vice versa? Which do you prefer, and why? Welcome to my world!”
In that world, product texture comes into unusually sharp focus, and for good reason. “I’ve become fixated on being able to detect minute changes in textures when formulating new or reformulating existing dairy products,” Surratt said. “So personally speaking, I’ve given texture vast amounts of attention because it’s my job.”
If the “civilian” population can’t make the same claim, don’t hold it against them. To the casual observer, texture simply doesn’t generate the same flash as do flavor, scent or visual appeal. But that doesn’t diminish its contribution to a product’s — especially a dairy one’s — gestalt.
As Surratt said, “Just like taste, aroma and appearance, texture plays a critical role in consumers’ overall perception of a product and, ultimately, its success.”
That is why dairy developers should make like the texture experts and zero in on the unsung sensation capable of revolutionizing current brands and giving life to new ones