AAK – The Co-Development Company
The Co-Development Company. What is really in that brand promise from AAK?
In a simplified way you could say that AAK collaborates with its customers – from
idea to product launch – in order to create value-adding solutions. But how does it
work? Insight asked some of AAK’s teams around the world to share some recent
successful co-development stories.
Customer Co-Development in North Latin America
New AAK solution for the Colombian dairy market
When scouting for new business opportunities in Colombia,
we did some market research and visited many cheese
production facilities. The idea was to find new customers
that could use our Dairy+ solutions. A number of workshops
with potential customers were conducted in order to find their
needs and pains. Two major concerns were identified: the
problem of standardizing the texture and structure of the milk
used, and the non-consistent availability of milk. Therefore,
the customers needed something more than a simple milk fat
extender.
We proceeded to co-develop an integral solution with
our customers and MIX2 was born. This solution, which is
Customer Co-Development in Turkey
Customized CBI for better texture and production processes
For many chocolate and confectionery producers, the use
of any other fat than cocoa butter is sometimes debatable.
But in order to protect a product’s stability in certain temperatures,
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the use of a Cocoa Butter Improver (CBI) might be
necessary.
A customer who was using a certain type of CBI was able
to reach the correct hardness level and heat stability but
was left with a waxy mouthfeel. Furthermore, there were
often fluctuations in the SFC values (Solid Fat Content) and
the fact that it was an imported product caused both long
custom processes and increased costs due to import duties.
Because of these difficulties the customer had to have high
stocks in case of an urgent, unexpected need.
Approximately a year and a half ago, we started to develop
a customized CBI based on our ILLEXAO HS 85 and we
managed to create a product with an improved and pleasant
mouthfeel.
a powder blend, is mainly used for extending filata cheese
and the final product has better structure and elasticity than
a cheese made with 100 percent milk. This concept allowed
our customers to extend the filata cheese up to 40 percent,
which alleviated the pains of availability and uniformity in
the milk. It also gave AAK a competitive advantage in the
Colombian market by positioning our company as an expert
in dairy solutions, focusing on customer co-development to
meet different needs.
José Concepción Hernandez Raya
Frying and Dairy solutions Manager, AAK Mexico
During the development process, 36 different fat blend
recipes were evaluated in the laboratory trials and four of
them were used in the factory trials, before we ended up with
one perfect match.
Thanks to this very close cooperation the project resulted
in very important developments for our customer, both in
regards to process and texture. In addition, AAK’s consistent
approach on product quality, flexibility and ability to build
customer-oriented solutions, combined with local production
capabilities, allowed our customer to overcome the commercial
and operational difficulties, winning time and creating
cost advantages.
Sacid Erdem
Senior Customer Innovation Manager, AAK Turkey
Burç Bölükbaşı
Sales Director, AAK Turkey