Ingredient functionality: Unlock power and control through detailed understanding
17 August 2026 | Elena Sharma, Food and Drink Science Team Lead, and Finlay Hawkins, Laboratory Manager in Food and Drink Science Team
A detailed understanding of ingredient functionality within a specific product can be a powerful advantage in a competitive market shaped by evolving consumer expectations. By understanding how ingredients behave and contribute to product performance, manufacturers can address challenges in existing products and develop successful new or reformulated products with greater confidence. We support food and drink businesses with expert guidance to grant this insight and help apply it successfully.
This blog explores how ingredient functionality information can be used to tackle various challenges, including ingredient variability, cost and availability pressures, and product development / reformulation.
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Understanding ingredient functionality
Ingredient functionality describes the role an ingredient plays in a product, such as delivering structure, texture, flavour or nutrition. Many ingredients provide several functions, and understanding their physical properties, structure and texture can help explain how they influence finished product performance.
Whether or not standard test methods exist, we can help you characterise ingredient properties and link them to functionality in your product.
This insight can support better ingredient selection, reduce cost and waste, manage variation, and help resolve supply or processing challenges.
Where the cause of an issue is unclear, or linked to a specific ingredient or process step, we can identify the underlying factors and provide practical insight to help overcome the challenge.
Wheat flour variation: Insights and management
A key challenge for flour users is that not all wheat flour is the same. Growing conditions, harvesting and processing can all affect flour properties, influencing ingredient functionality and finished product quality.
Understanding this variation helps maintain consistency and reduce the risk of ingredient or product write-offs.
We apply standardised, UKAS accredited methods to assess wheat flour characteristics and functionality. This supports specification setting, flour standardisation and, where required, practical use of flours that are currently creating processing or product challenges.
Egg and egg-based ingredients: Managing variability, cost and availability pressures
Egg functionality can vary with hen diet, environment and genetics, as well as production practices, egg age, storage and distribution conditions.
Egg and egg powder specifications rarely include parameters that directly measure functionality, and there are no standardised methods for comparing functionality across suppliers, sources or seasons.
This can become a critical issue when the same formulation no longer delivers the expected finished product.
We can identify which egg properties drive the required product behaviour, where they take effect in the process, and how changes in functionality can be characterised and managed. For example, measuring temperature and extent of gelation, raising in baked goods, emulsifying properties of yolk etc.
This insight also supports ingredient selection during product development. For example, egg powders that meet the same specification on paper may behave differently during baking, with a direct impact on final product quality.
Where cost or availability pressures require egg reduction or replacement, we can provide functionality-led support for reformulation, supply challenges and new product development, including products designed to meet plant-based consumer demand.
Plant-based proteins: Understanding functionality to support development and reformulation
Plant-based proteins bring their own challenges, particularly when replacing animal-derived ingredients such as eggs, butter or milk, or when developing plant-based meat alternatives.
Successful reformulation depends on understanding what each ingredient contributes, and when, within the process. This helps identify the right combination of plant-based proteins to deliver the required product structure, texture and performance.
Plant-derived proteins, such as soy and pea protein concentrates or isolates, can vary with crop source, processing and extraction method. This can lead to supplier-to-supplier and batch-to-batch differences that affect finished product consistency.
We can develop targeted tests for ingredient quality and functionality, link results to finished product outcomes, and help define workable specification windows. Where ingredients fall outside the ideal range, we can support process or formulation adjustments to help make them work effectively.
Understanding ingredient functionality gives you control.
How we can help
Our Food and Drink Science team combine ingredient functionality testing with practical product development expertise to help clients optimise formulations, compare suppliers, troubleshoot manufacturing challenges, improve product quality and accelerate innovation.
Where an issue is linked to a process step, ingredient, supplier change or unknown cause, we can identify the underlying factors and provide practical insight to help overcome the challenge.
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Ingredient functionality testing capabilities:
Our ingredient functionality testing services help businesses understand how ingredients behave in real product systems, translating technical measurements into practical insight that supports formulation, processing, quality and innovation decisions. The techniques below can help optimise recipes, compare suppliers, troubleshoot manufacturing challenges, improve product quality and reduce development risk.
Different testing techniques provide complementary insight into how ingredients behave, helping teams select suitable materials, manage supplier or batch variation, and troubleshoot quality issues before they reach production.
Examples of client challenges we can support with:
We can support a wide range of client challenges, from selecting the most suitable starch, protein or hydrocolloid to troubleshooting instability in sauces, beverages and emulsions, improving texture and mouthfeel in bakery, dairy and plant-based products, and assessing moisture sensitivity or shelf-life risks.
Functionality testing can also help optimise foam performance, compare alternative suppliers, manage batch variability and investigate changes linked to particle size, hydration, mixing, heat treatment, processing scale-up or ingredient reformulation. This insight is particularly valuable when diagnosing defects such as grittiness, syneresis, clumping, stickiness, poor aeration or uneven colour, improving powder handling and flowability, or supporting plant-based, reduced-sugar, reduced-fat, high-protein and clean-label product development without compromising structure, stability or consumer appeal.
Product innovation, optimisation and lifecycle support
Developing safe, successful and cost-effective products can be challenging, as can maintaining quality throughout shelf-life and ongoing production. We bring together technical expertise, testing and practical product development support to help you make informed decisions and overcome product challenges.
With our product innovation, optimisation and lifecycle support, we are here to help with every step of the product lifecycle – from ideation through to successful launch, as well as managing onward quality alongside future changes and risks.
By partnering with us, you will benefit from our expert team of scientists and technical professionals who have an unrivalled track record of delivering successful outcomes on behalf of global brands and manufacturers – collaborating on a wide range of projects every day.
For more on leveraging ingredient functionality information, register for our FREE webinar on 8 September.
How can we help?
If you’d like to find out more about characterising ingredient functionality in your product, get in touch.
Product innovation, optimisation and lifecycle support
End-to-end product development, onward quality management and more for your food and drink products.
