Practical Guide for Reformulation & innovation: building a healthier food future
We believe the healthy choice should be the easy choice. Yet, the journey to healthier food options can be challenging. To collectively tackle barriers on limited R&D access and fixed (technological) mindset, we created a Practical Guide for Reformulation and Innovation. This freely available, hands-on resource is designed to help professionals define and implement reformulation strategies, offering insights into the impact of changes on crucial product attributes such as taste, texture and overall experience. The guide supports informed decision making to improve product health without compromising quality.
Why this guide?
Improving the health profile of food products – such as reducing sugar, salt and saturated fat or increasing fibre – is a complex process. Reformulation goes far beyond simply swapping ingredients; it requires balancing nutrition with taste, texture, appearance, shelf time, and costs.
This guide offers practical direction, real-world examples, and up-to-date solutions to help navigate this process. It is aligned with the Dutch National Approach to Product Improvement (NAPV), but also relevant in broader international contexts.
What to expect?
The content of the guide is built on a strong combination of scientific literature and real-world expertise from R&D professionals. The Practical Guide is developed within the Healthier Food Community and includes:
- Information on reformulation aspects related to sugar, salt, saturated fat, and fibre
- Explanation of both functional and nutritional roles of ingredients
- Solutions and technologies offered by suppliers
- Inspirational real-life case studies from the food industry
- Overview of advisory organisations and innovation facilities active in reformulation
The result is a broadly support resource that reflects the practical reality of product development.
Who is it for?
The Practical Guide is relevant for:
- Food technologists and product developers
- R&D managers and innovation teams
- Marketing teams
- Food industry sales teams
It can be used as a reference guide, a discussion tool, or a training resource for teams working on product improvement. Regardless of job function, the guide helps you to make better-informed decisions that align health objectives with consumer expectations and product performance.
We invite you to put the guide into active use within your organisation. Share it with your colleagues, apply the insights to current projects and let us know how it contributes to your innovation efforts. Your input will help us continuously improve the guide and ensure it stays relevant to industry needs.
Following a closed feedback round with Healthier Food Community partners earlier this year, the guide has now been finalised and is publicly available. If you feel anything is missing or have suggestions for additional topics, ingredients, or case studies, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We plan to publish regular updates to ensure the guide remains up to date.
Vera Hoynck van Papendrecht
vera.hoynckvanpapendrecht@foodvalley.nl
- Let’s collaborate to create a healthier future. If you have expertise, solutions, or ideas to share, we’d love to hear from you!