In this post, I'd love to share our readers the key takeaways that were highlighted at Bone Broth Business Day. Dive on into central topics and learn some key aspects of running a successful broth business.
Broth manufacturing insights, Beef Broth Process Run & Culinary Tasting emphasised the success of the event
If you haven't already, read our recent post about the Broth Business Day atmosphere collected to photos and a video >>
The event was held for food and meat processing companies including current bone broth and bouillon producers and companies keen on this busines as well as guest speakers Sven-Åke Jeppson and Patric Engvall from Tetra Pak. Many key topics were discussed and attendees left with the knowledge in natural bone broth manufacturing elements and popular packaging options matching the growth of the liquid broth, bouillon, soup and sauce category.
Here I have put together the key takeaways from the event:
1. What makes a great tasting, traditional, Michelin-quality bone stock and broth?
The essential characteristics of a great broth are:
- Long-lasting round taste – broth full of aroma
- Clarity – broth free of fat and other impurities
- Texture – broth that envelops the palate with the right balance of gelatine
Tasting session of non-concentrated beef broth before and after filtering
at the broth production process run session
(non-filtered broth is on the left side glass, filtered broth the right side glass)
2. What do you need to achieve those key elements of a perfect broth?
- Excellent raw materials (fresh meaty bones in ideal size of 4 x 4 cm, maximum 10 x10 cm, but also frozen bones can be used)
- Great recipes
- The right cooking method and equipment
3. How does the Coctio process enable the consistent production of great tasting broth?
- The Coctio method for producing bone broth has been tried and tested for over 25 years and has proven to be worthy of Michelin-star restaurant quality.
- Producing great tasting broth consistently has all to do with the Coctio equipment design and automation. At the heart of the production line, the design of the Coctio cooker module combined with Coctio automation enables careful control of the traditional cooking process.
- Cooking in a closed environment retains all of the flavours and aromas released by bones and other ingredients that evaporate into the air during the cooking process. Capturing those are crucial to enhance and deepen the natural taste of the broth.
- Coctio recommends a cooking temperature of 103°C which ensures broth clarity, and provides the right balance of flavour and nutrient release while maintaining the best balance of the gelatine’s gelling strength.
- In the Coctio cooker module, the mixture simmers gently at 103°C, letting only a few bubbles rise to the top providing the right amount of movement inside the mixture. This ensures minimal disturbance of the elements and avoids fat and other unwanted contents released by the ingredients to mix with the rest of the broth.
- Controlling heat transfer through such a mass (3,500 kg of animal bones and 3,500 liters of water) is critical, and Coctio automation has been designed to perform this task to the dot, over and over again.
4. How to optimise manufacturing efficiency with a Coctio broth line?
Coctio machine design and automated batch processing enables you to maximise production efficiency while maintaining end-products quality consistency. Every batch is produced with precision and carefully controlled to repeatedly cook the desired taste, texture and clarity. Also, as the Coctio process is automated, little supervision is required. Planned carefully, one operator could run up to six cooker modules at a time.
The Coctio production lines are based on a modular design which allows you to plan a production line that is right for your own production capacity needs. Meaning that you get the right line solution with the specific capacity that you need, so there is no wasted investment. Thus Coctio lines respond well to a variety of requirements in the food industry.
5. What makes natural bone broth and the packaged liquid bone stock category an interesting segment with increasing popularity?
- Clean-label trend element: Less preservatives and additives
- Indulgence taste trend element: Perfect, natural taste enhancer meaning that anywhere it is used to enhance taste, the end-product retains its natural label, with or without particles
- Nutraceutical trend element: Health and wellness, nutritional food
- Convenience trend element: Time to table, easy to use and multiple uses; it can be sold as such, or it can be used as an additive-free food ingredient to produce sauces, soups and ready meals
- Value for money element for the consumers: High-quality and natural taste experience packaged in easy to use carton packages in different sizes.
- Valuable raw material element for food manufacturers: it should be highlighted that the broth’s primary raw material is animal bones which many food companies consider as waste making it rather cheap to purchase. At the moment, many meat/fish/food processors do not make any revenue from their animal bone residues.
6. Tips for exploring new market possibilities with bone stock products and applications:
As the demand for authentic and home-made tasting, nutritious and healthy foods and beverages grows so does the pressure for food solutions that are also cost-effective. The push for clean labels, less processing, natural ingredients and indulgence taste is picking up strength in the food manufacturers. It was identified, that there’s room for bone broth differentiation and market sales for example in the following segments:
- Natural food and texturizing applications and taste enhancers in ready meals manufacturing (‘free-from’ and ‘premium-for-you’ meals)
- Food services products
- Private labels
- Specialised nutrition applications for infant foods
- Savory snacks
- Sports recovery and sports nutrition
- Healthy beverages
Also, our discussions only touched upon the huge market possibilities in bone broths in the following markets:
- Healthy and protein-based excipients for liquid forms in Pharmaceutical Products (Health & Nutrition)
- Natural pet food ingredients in Speciality pet foods to help pet food manufacturers meet the right nutritional content, palatability and clean labels in dry, wet and semi-moist pet food and treats.
7. Took a closer look at Tetra Pak aseptic packaging and retortable cartons matching long shelf-life in liquid Broth, Stock, Soup and Sauce category and address consumer market demands
- Regarding popularity, cartons are the fastest growing packaging format in this category allowing multiple usages, broth aisle penetration with various brands and carton size differentiation: Small, single-serve sizes, or larger, re-sealable cartons address ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat broths, soups and snacking both at home or on-the-go.
- Tetra Brik Aseptic is highly popular due to a wide range of liquid food products to keep it safe and fresh without any preservatives. An aseptic broth package has been sterilised before filling with UHT (Ultra High Temperature) treated food, resulting in a product which is shelf-stable for over six months.
- Tetra Recart (the retortable carton) is the 21st century alternative for canned food. It can be filled with foods containing particles (e.g. vegetables, tomatoes, ready meals, soups and sauces, as well as pet food) and sterilised inside a carton package. Recart cartons have a shelf life up to two years.
- Regarding small-scale broth production, the best options may be aseptic bags & pouches combined with a sterilisation process in an autoclave.
8. Key financial and operational factors to follow when setting up a bone broth production plant
Whether you are starting a new bone broth venture from scratch, looking to develop your food processing business further and expand your product category, effective financial and operational management is a crucial part of running a successful broth business. It's important to understand the key manufacturing elements so that you can identify the most cost-effective way to set up a bone broth manufacturing plant that matches your objectives and enables growth with the markets. Here are a few aspects to consider:
- Estimating the chosen product categories to produce and supply the selected markets
- Weekly /annual manufacturing capacity
- Estimating the potential sales with some reliability: sales forecast based on competitive/alternative products on the market and their pricing, market trends, initial orders, etc.
- Availability of animal bones and need of other ingredients as raw materials
- Estimating the annual revenue streams for bone broths and by-products
- Detailed production planning
- Chosen Coctio bone broth and sauce production line option, including required functionalities and modules matching your production plans
- Production facility space planning for a Coctio line set-up, other necessary facilities and plant assets (i.e. packaging line)
- The core activities and typical workforce operating at a broth plant
- Key environmental requirements to take into account in setting up a plant
9. What could be the first steps involved in starting bone broth production planning?
For every business needs, Coctio provides financial and operational tools and business support services helping you to make informed and realistic decisions with regards to your specific situation. This may involve assessing new business opportunities, market engagement, capacity planning, investment budgets for both start-up and market growth companies, production start-up and product development. Just contact a Coctio team member!
If you’re interested in learning more about these key takeaways or other insights related to extracting more value out of animal bone residue streams, just take a call or email us!
Do you have any particular wishes on what you would like to learn and experience on our next Business Day? If so, feel free to send us your ideas!
Subscribe to our blog below or follow us on Twitter @Coctio_Concept to receive announcements for our future Business Day events and other activities!