As consumers become more health conscious, food and beverage manufacturers are looking for new ways, formats, and ingredients to develop better-for-you products. Drawing on its 173-year history, ingredient supplier Langdon is working with suppliers, customers, and the latest technology to meet those needs.
There is a great deal of pressure on global food systems, whether it be for greater transparency in the supply chain, improved sustainability and waste initiatives, or more clean label products.
Then there is understanding consumer trends and market behaviour to be able to pre-empt consumer and manufacturer ingredient preferences. For more than 170 years, Langdon has been doing that and then finding the best supplier to cater to its customers’ preferences.
One relatively new category for Langdon is individual quick frozen (IQF) ingredients. While it has been developing relationships with IQF suppliers over the last decade, IQF’s popularity is on the rise.
According to Market Research Intellect, the global IQF market is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.87 per cent from 2024-2031, a value increase from $125 billion to $288 billion.
Key growth drivers
Langdon head of Procurement ANZ, Nigel Todd, says IQF provides an opportunity to respond to nutritional, waste, availability, consistency, and shelf-life concerns.
“Freezing is an excellent method for preserving the nutritional content and extending the shelf-life of products throughout the manufacturing process. However, challenges such as clumping and ice crystal formation can compromise the overall quality of both the ingredients and the final product.
“IQF technology presents an innovative solution to these traditional challenges, delivering a superior product with enhanced quality and consistency,” Todd says.
Improvements in equipment, technology, and processing methods are also driving IQF’s popularity. As the technology becomes more sophisticated and improves the efficiency of the process and the quality of the product, there are more solutions available to manufacturers.
“In today’s climate, it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on a good harvest. Yields of crops around the world are battling against droughts, floods, and disease. This puts pressure on supply and drives up prices.
“Innovations in farming technology are continually being developed and enhanced in response to these mounting challenges, but preservation processes like IQF offer a simple and readily available solution to these challenges,” he says.
Replicating Freshness
Langdon says its foundation is sourcing premium ingredients from all over the world for its customers. For the IQF range, products must replicate the look, taste, and functionality of fresh ingredients, offering customers a vast array of like-fresh herbs, vegetables, and an expanding selection of fruits.
It works closely with top global suppliers to meet the needs of customers’ applications and quality requirements.
The result is an IQF pantry that ensures high-quality ingredients and tight micro specifications, making them suitable for even the most challenging applications.
Committed to collaboration, Langdon says it goes the extra mile to find and source any specific ingredient a customer requires.
Todd says, “Our herb offering is perhaps the most impressive part of our portfolio. Our supplier germinates seeds from their own selection programmes, giving control over the entire growth process, and surety of taste, agronomic quality, scent, colour, and texture.
“This hand selection process ensures that not only are the IQF products comparable to fresh herbs, but in many ways superior, as they are each selected for their superior quality, then frozen at this point of perfection.”
Peace of mind
Langdon is keenly aware of the changing demands on its customers when it comes to procurement and supply chain transparency, as well as premium safe ingredients that meet Australia’s strict standards.
“We perform extensive in-house quality checks at multiple stages of the procurement process, ensuring top-tier products and customer satisfaction. By taking ownership of the quality assurance process, Langdon removes this task from its customers’ to-do lists, providing a seamless and reliable supply chain experience with sustainability and traceability a key focus,” Todd says.
