New Food Product Development

General

• Code: 276-190802
• Semester: 8th
• Study Level: Undergraduate
• Course type: Υποχρεωτικό, Ειδικού υποβάθρου
• Teaching and exams language: Greek
• Teaching Methods (Hours/Week): Lectures (4) / Practical Exercises (2)
• ECTS Units: 9
• Course homepage: https://exams-geo.the.ihu.gr/course/view.php?id=170
• Instructors: Dimitreli Georgia, Kalogianni Eleni, Goulas Athanasios

Course Contents

Introduction

• Definition of new/innovative food product development, driver of new food development, benefits to the industry.
• Development stages of new food products and differentiations.
• The success equation key ingredients of successful new product development.
• New product failure factors.
• Organizing the students into groups and clarifying how the course will be conducted, the expected results and their assessment.
• Components and structure of the final group work and presentation of a new food.
• Brainstorming session, recording the results.

Innovation

• What is innovation and what are possible sources of new ideas.
• The role of the consumer, understanding his needs, globalization, attractive quality.
• The management of the business.
• Innovation through collaboration, building trust. stages, tools and elements thereof.
• Holistic approach to innovation, creation of a platform for the emergence and critical evaluation of new ideas, trends and needs, evaluation of technology, capabilities and the company’s portfolio.
• Critical evaluation of each group’s new food ideas (based on bibliographic sources etc.). To what extent the group’s idea is consistent with the conditions set. Preparation for the formulation and development stage of the food.

Development of the new product

• The role of research and development in the creation/synthesis of the new products.
• Design, testing and development of the production line. From the lab and grams to the production plant and the tons.
• Commercial viability costing of the product.
• The recipe of the product, its ingredients and their specifications, the specifications of the product, the design of its production line and its capacity.

Market research before and after the development of a new or improved product

• Selection of the appropriate physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics (product profile). Description and importance of the properties in their contribution to the new product. Their quantification methods (choice of scale and measurement units).

Experimental design formulation and treatments of the new or improved product.

• Statistical evaluation of the effect of the product characteristics and optimization of the final product recipe. Confirming the validity of the process results and positioning the product in the market relative to the competition.

Application of the methodology (experimental design and statistical analyses) to the product of each group and critical evaluation of the parameters affecting the analysis.

Ensuring the quality and safety of novel foods.

• Quality assurance mechanisms.
• Safety of new foods and their shelf life.
• Quality assurance and safety measures for new products developed by each team (HACCP). Shelf life of new products.

Packaging and placing the product on the market.

• Past, present and future challenges and prospects of food packaging in terms of new product development.
• Safety, usability from the point of view of transport – storage – presentation and the consumer, nutritional and utilitarian information, environment, etc.
• Product positioning – packaging and website design.
• Packaging of the new product of each group, material specifications etc.

Novel foods and legislation.

• Definition of new foods based on current legislation.
• Review of national and European legislation governing food.
• New product approval.
• Control of each group’s new product based on legislation and compliance.

Future trends.

• New technologies, functional foods and nutrition claims.
• Data management systems and new product design.
• Personalized diets and food products.
• Examples of new product failures.
• Presentations of new products by the student groups.

Presentations of new products by student groups

• Evaluation of the course and the teachers, suggestions for improvement.

Educational Goals

During the course, the attendees will have the opportunity to follow all the stages of new food product development, since divided into groups they will create their own new food products based on specific prerequisites. The course will cover the process of creating new food products from the conception stage, its formulation and development, market research and positioning, packaging and production scale-up. Particular focus will be given to the methodology of developing new food recipes with the aim of creating improved and widely accepted product.

As a result, the participants, through the common creation of their own new product, will learn to recognize the different evolutionary stages of the process, understand the importance of the parameters that regulate their successful outcome, while they will acquire the ability to organize and manage the development of new products. A key point of reference will be familiarization, learning and the use by the participants of the methods of development and evaluation of new food recipes.

General Skills

• Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information using the necessary technologies.
• Adaptability to new situations and decision making.
• Autonomous work and Team work.
• Working in an international context.
• Planning and project management.
• Respect for the natural environment.
• Promoting free, creative and causative thinking.
• Acquisition of skills for problem solving, combining the knowledge acquired from previous courses and personal/group research, in order to deal with research and/or innovation in an enterprise.
• Make decisions in unpredictable environments manage and participate in work groups, solve problems, create strategy and organize for project management.

Teaching Methods

Face to face:

• Lectures (theory and exercises) in a classroom.
• Advisory/guidance meetings in groups with the supervising professors.
• Practice exercises by groups.

Use of ICT means

• Lectures with slide shows.
• Notes in electronic form.
• Using video and online applications in teaching.
• Post course material and communicate with students on the Moodle online platform.
• 5. Extensive use of the internet to search for information.

Teaching Organization

Students Evaluation

The evaluation of the attendees will be based on a final presentation and report that will be presented by each group of students related to the development of a new product. Possibility to participate in national and international new food competitions such as ECOTROFELIA GREECE (http://www.sevt.gr/en/news-details/FMuM/ecotrophelia-2019).

Recommended Bibliography

1. Σφλώμος Κωνσταντίνος, Βαρζάκας Θεόδωρος (2019), Έρευνα και Ανάπτυξη νέων προϊόντων και Επιχειρηματικών Σχεδίων, (Κ.Β. Εύδοξο: 77271644), Εκδότης: ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΤΣΟΤΡΑΣ, ISBN: 978-618-5309-70-1.
2. Δημήτριος Νικ. Πετρίδης (2019), Εφαρμοσμένη Στατιστική, (Κ.Β. Εύδοξο: 86055522), Εκδότης: Εκδόσεις BACK OFFICE, ISBN: 978-618-82547-0-1.
3. Fuller G. W., 2011, New Food Product Development from Concept to Marketplace (3rd ed), CRC Press [ISBN: 978-143981864].
4. Moskowitz H.R., Saguy I.S. and Straus T., 2009, An Integrated Approach to New Food Product Development, CRC Press [ISBN: 978-1-4200-6553-4].
5. Earle M., Earle R. and Anderson R. 2017, Food Product Development, Woodhead Publishing Limited. Web Edition published by NZIFST (Inc.).
6. Ghazalian, P.L. 2012, Assessing the effects of international trade on private R&D expenditures in the food processing sector, Industry and Innovation, 19 (4) 349-369.
7. Bigliardi B. and Galati F., 2013, Models of adoption of open innovation within the food industry, Trends in Food Science and Technology, 30, 16-26.
8. Ciclibert, S., Carraresi, L. and Broring, S., 2016. Drivers of Innovation in Italy: food versus pharmaceutical industry, British Food Journal 118, 1292-1316.