In this episode of Food Tech Talk, Lydia Adams interviews Rachel Zemser, a food science industry consultant with nearly three decades of experience. Rachel, the Founder of A La Carte Connections, shares her journey in the food industry and her passion for food science, which was sparked by her international upbringing and exposure to diverse food cultures.

Rachel discusses the critical steps in the R&D process, emphasizing the need to balance creativity with practical considerations such as manufacturing processes, packaging, and shelf life. She highlights the challenges of integrating new ingredients into products, stressing the importance of evaluating their safety, availability, and regulatory compliance.

The conversation then explores the complexities of creating nutritionally specific foods while maintaining consumer appeal. Rachel provides insights on navigating client expectations and the realities of food formulation, using examples from her work with keto products and high-protein bars.

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on scaling up from kitchen prototypes to commercial production. Rachel emphasizes the importance of choosing the right co-packer and ensuring proper vetting and auditing of manufacturing facilities. She also touches on the challenges of clean label trends and the need to balance consumer demands with product functionality and safety.

Finally, Rachel shares her thoughts on emerging trends in the food industry, including the anti-ultra-processed movement, and discusses technological advancements like high-pressure processing (HPP) that are changing the game in food preservation.

Throughout the episode, Rachel emphasizes the importance of staying informed about regulatory changes, managing client expectations, and combating misinformation in the food industry.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, instructions on how to do this are here.