As health-consciousness and an awareness of what you are putting into your body becomes an ever-increasing trend, Sunsweet Growers, Inc. is shining a spotlight on the protein benefits plums can bring to the meat category.
That’s right, plums.
“In the past, the value addition proposition for most fruits has been strictly from an inclusion basis. Today, the main value addition sought by food manufacturers is functionality,” John Weaver, Global Sales for Sunsweet, tells me. “Dried plums (or prunes if you prefer) have a broad range of functionality in a broad range of food processing applications, and we are happy to provide fruit-based solutions to a demanding marketplace.”
The company has a variety of plum forms to add nutritional benefits and flavors to the meat category such as plum extract, powder, fiber, puree, and a variety of custom blends. Many of these forms are multi-functional ingredients and come with a host of benefits like moisture retention, flavor enhancement, sodium reduction, antioxidant, WOF masking, natural coloring agent, fat replacement, and more, according to John.
“It doesn’t perform just one task,” he tells me. “During the last several years, there has been an increasing desire to remove artificial ingredients and clean up labels. Phosphate replacement in protein applications is just one example of this general tendency in the food manufacturing sector, and Sunsweet is very nicely positioned to take advantage of these developments.”
John added that the company has research going back years on the different forms and functionalities of plums, and has been promoting the use of these ingredients in protein channels for quite a while. And currently there is a new project in the works.
“Our newest product is a patent pending glycerin infused piece, which lowers water activity to the point that it is perfect for inclusions in dry environments like cereal or nut mixes,” John said.
So whether it’s tumble marinating or brining red meat and poultry with plum powder, or a plum puree liquid marinade on emulsified or ground meats, stay tuned to Deli Market News as the ways of balancing nutrition and flavor continue to grow within the industry.