Bars

The Bar is High: Creating The Ideal Snack

Texture Symphony: Balancing a cohesive bar with a desirable textural experience is key. With too little structure, a bar can be crumbly and disintegrate in shipping while too much structure can create a rock hard or unpleasantly chewy bar.

Optimized hydrocolloid blends create a gel network, promoting binding and cohesion between ingredients. Thereby preventing the bar from falling apart yet creating a consistent texture throughout to ensure a pleasant eating experience. 

Moisture Management: Striking that 'just-right' balance between moisture content and bar integrity is crucial. Excess moisture leads to a soft, sticky bar, while a formula that is too dry compromises mouthfeel and shelf life.

Hydrocolloids act as water binders, delaying moisture migration and preserving a desirable bar texture over time. This translates to extended shelf life and keeps the bar in the perfect balance between too dry and too moist. 

Nutritional Optimization: Integrating desired levels of protein, fiber, and other nutrients while maintaining palatability is a complex task.

Some hydrocolloids can contribute valuable fiber content without compromising texture or mouthfeel. They also offer bulking properties, which allows for the incorporation of higher protein levels without compromising bar integrity.

The strength of hydrocolloids lies in their versatility. The smallest change in usage levels can have exponential impact on the end product. By leveraging the blended systems from GPI that have been tried and tested, formulators can expand benefits beyond taste and texture.

• Sugar-Reduced Bars: The bulking properties of sugar can be replaced with hydrocolloid blends to enable reduced-sugar front of label claims while maintaining bar integrity and mouthfeel.

• Clean-Label Appeal: Many hydrocolloids are derived from tree saps, seeds and seaweeds-- aligning these natural and functional ingredients with clean-label acceptability.