However, they couldn’t keep up with demand. Michael Kaputsky, General Manager at Dispatch knew he needed to source better ingredients, improve the recipe and make the product shelf stable.

Having collaborated on previous projects, and having several Niagara College graduates on the team, Michael knew the Food and Beverage Innovation Centre (FBIC) could help them solve their challenge.

“The FBIC team improved the recipe, making the product shelf stable and scalable,” said Michael.

“Through their HACCP certified pilot plant, the FBIC team was able to produce over 800 cans of our product through 200 litre small batches in a fully food safe environment that we could sell immediately to our customers. This allowed us to get initial market traction on the new product and bridge the gap to a commercial scale copacker,” added Michael.

“Without FBIC’s product development and pilot plant expertise, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” he stressed.

FBIC connected Dispatch with a new co-packer, who not only has the equipment to make the product at a larger scale, but also the storage, and logistics capabilities of assisting them in making an even bigger impact in the market.

Having tapped into the expertise of FBIC, Dispatch now has this research-backed product which is an additional revenue stream to their local business.

“At FBIC, we helped the industry partner simplify the processing to minimize production costs as well as we provided ingredients and formulation recommendations to enable the scale up of the novel product,” said Ana Cristina Vega Lugo, PhD, Scientific Manager, FBIC. The FBIC team optimized the Mazagran ready-to-drink beverage, and a scaled-up trial was completed in the HACCP-certified pilot plant. Different carbonation levels were evaluated, and Dispatch chose their preferential mouthfeel. In addition, food safety assessments were conducted for each formulation, evaluating the heat treatment proposed to ensure the final products are safe and free from microbial contamination when they are available in the market, as they are preservative-free products.