- Talking about
- Knowledge Transfer Partnership
We helped Goldenfry - a British food manufacturer - to improve their production processes and reduce their products’ salt and fat content.
Goldenfry produces gravy granules and home-bake products, such as Yorkshire pudding mixes, dumplings and breadcrumbs for brands and supermarket own-brand lines.
The company wanted to improve efficiency and sought to modernise their manufacturing processes. They approached our School of Food Science and Nutrition which has expertise in numerical simulation and specialist facilities to aid the development and characterisation of food products.
Tastier, healthier food
We used process mapping and simulation software to model Goldenfry’s manufacturing processes. The results led to improvements to the manufacturing and packing process.
We also worked with Goldenfry to reduce their product’s fat and salt content. Prototype recipes and formats were developed and tested at our Food Technology Laboratory.
Analysis showed that the processing formulations of some ingredients could lead to sub-optimal granule structure which was affecting the final product. These findings contributed towards the company developing a new line of premium products with enhanced flavour and superior dissolution properties.
The collaboration has helped Goldenfry to better understand the science behind their manufacturing processes at a much deeper level. More broadly, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) has given the company the information they need to make more informed choices about how they operate.
Jackie Laugher Product Development Manager at Goldenfry, said: “Access to scientific expertise and facilities at the University have further enhanced our insight into the interaction between our ingredients and the manufacturing processes. The KTP enabled us to make significant quality improvements in our products and identify precise methods for quality control”.
Future plans and collaboration
The partnership established an effective working relationship over the two-year project. Goldenfry went on to recruit one of our students for a one-year assignment.
As with all KTPs, there is shared learning for both the business and the University. For this project, our Food Science Undergraduate students benefitted from guest lectures given by Goldenfry.
This partnership received financial support from the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) programme. KTP aims to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base. This successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership project, funded by UK Research and Innovation through Innovate UK, is part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.