Andrew, founder of WeeBariBites, a West Lothian based start-up sought the expertise of the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation (SCFDI) to develop products for people who have undergone bariatric surgery. This target group have specific dietary needs and reduced ability to consume standard portion sizes. After undergoing surgery himself and struggling to maintain nutritional intake during recovery, Andrew identified a gap in the market for food and drink products for this target group. The SCFDI have expertise in developing products in line with specific nutritional goals, creating prototypes, ingredient sourcing and scaling products up to manufacturing. Together, the company and SCFDI decided to develop two products, a high protein fruity drink and a high protein almond butter. Both included additional vitamins and minerals.
Throughout the project, the company reviewed prototypes and provided feedback which led to approval of two drinks and two almond butters. The SCFDI provided the company with all essential information to trial and launch the products and carried out a small consumer panel with this target group. The project was supported by Scottish Funding Council’s Standard Innovation Voucher and West Lothian Council provided a High Growth Start Up grant.
The work with the team has been nothing short of fantastic. Doing a project like this as the only person in my business could have been stressful and overwhelming but Sarah and Catriona made this experience stress free and easily digestible much like the products we created. Both are a huge credit to the organisation and if i ever have a chance to work with them again I will grab that opportunity with both hands
- The Brief
- The Research
- The Outcome
Founder of WeeBariBites, Andrew approached SCFDI to help create products in line with the specific requirements of people who have undergone bariatric surgery. This target group have a reduced capacity to consume standard portions of food and drink therefore leading to a reduction of dietary nutrition. This product concept stemmed from Andrew’s experience after undergoing bariatric surgery, where he struggled to find products in line with nutritional guidance provided by dietitians while also delivering an acceptable flavour and texture profile. The aim of this project was to develop products that achieved nutritional targets in smaller portion size, while maintaining an acceptable sensory profile. After researching and discussing with the company the project team progressed with developing a high protein drink and a high protein almond butter. The project plan was to develop the two products, receiving feedback from the founder to guide development and to send prototype samples to people throughout the UK who had undergone bariatric surgery.
The SCFDI confirmed the project plan with the company and created a critical path for the project. The project team began by researching the specific nutritional goals for this target group, taking into account restrictions on certain foods and beverages during recovery, as well as a reduced capacity to consume standard volumes of food and drink. The team sourced ingredients for the two products in line with these restrictions and started development by creating a theoretical nutrition of the products to ensure the products delivered nutritional goals. The SCFDI then created and refined prototypes of the two products and invited the founder to attend tastings at QMU to provide feedback on each development stage, ensuring they were in line with his expectations. The two products developed allowed for a high protein claim on labelling and included additional vitamins and minerals to assist consumers with achieving their dietary reference values.
The team developed two flavours of each product resulting in the approval of a high protein blackcurrant drink, a high protein lemon & lime drink, a high protein original almond butter and a high protein chocolate almond butter.
Prototypes samples of the four products were then sent to a small consumer panel of people who had undergone bariatric surgery throughout the UK to provide anonymous feedback on the products.
This 5-month project resulted in the creation of two products aimed at people who have undergone bariatric surgery; high protein drink and high protein almond butter, two flavours of each. The SCFDI provided the company with an information pack for each product developed which included the following: final formulation, lab methodology, nutritional declaration based on nutritional calculation, ingredient declaration, product costing, technical information and ingredient suppliers. The team also provided a report on the results of the consumer testing which showed encouraging results for all four products.
This collaborative project resulted in the company receiving all essential information of the four developed products in line with their target group nutritional goals and feedback on the products from the target group. The company received information required to scale up products to manufacturing and launch the products to market.
This collaborative project resulted in the company obtaining all essential information regarding the four developed products, aligned with the nutritional goals of the target group, as well as feedback from the target group on the products. The company are now able to scale-up to manufacturing and launch their products to market. The company aim to launch the products in early 2026.
