The company Campofrío joined in 2017, the Collaboration Plan for the Improvement of Food Composition of the Aesan. The objective of this plan is to improve the nutritional composition of various groups of food and beverages, which are present in the shopping basket of Spaniards, and in turn prevent overweight and obesity. This plan was created by the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare. Salt, sugar and fats were the selected nutrients to reduce.
Since then, he has made a commitment to make his products more natural foods. They have managed to reduce the use of salt and fat in more than one hundred and seventy products of cooked ham, chorizo, salchichón, lacon, turkey breast and sausages. The Campofrío company has a wide variety of brands; Campofrío, Navidul, Revilla and Oscar Mayer.
Challenges and objectives of this plan.
The meat products company has managed to reduce the salt content by 16%, the fat content by 5%, and the average sugar content by 10%. The objective of this project is to maintain the quality of the product and preserve its organoleptic properties. These properties are the natural characteristics that all foods have, and that manage to differentiate them from each other. They are captured through the senses, such as sight, smell and taste.
How did you manage to reduce the salt, fat and sugar content?
The company conducted several tests before bringing the new products to market. To ensure that the changes were not too large in the final product, the results were tested from two perspectives. For them, they formed an expert panel and a consumer panel.
The panel of experts tried a more scientific analysis, where properties, elements, etc. were analyzed. With this study it was possible to detect the differences between the usual product and the test, correcting the defects to achieve the objectives of the final product. On the other hand, the consumer panel was used to find out if customers accepted or rejected the new alternatives created. This panel was very important, since it allowed the Campofrío company to know the margin of improvement in the deviated parameters
Next challenges: continue to improve quality.
The commitment to the Collaboration Plan for the Improvement of Food Composition does not end here. Campofrío wants to continue improving its products. During the last year they have turned to research and development to create new products and categories, always with the same objective, that their products are more natural.
The brand has also joined to the rise of vegan products and vegetarians, they have the line called Campofrío Vegalia. Every year they add new lines and products adapted to vegan and vegetarian consumers. These products are made from vegetable and alternative proteins.
On the other hand, the Navidul line, in charge of Iberian ham and cured ham references, has announced that they will begin to eliminate additives in their products. This is because recent studies and tests have determined that cured ham is capable of maintaining all its characteristics using salt as the only preservative.
The goal for the coming years is to continue eliminating additives and reduce the use of sugar, salt and fat in all products. Campofrío will continue hand in hand with AESAN, to comply with these parameters. All this will have an impact on consumers, making their lives somewhat healthier within what the company can do. The flavor remains the same in the products, or very similar, while each time they become healthier.
The director of the Sigma Nutrition Center of Excellence in Europe said the following: "Innovation aimed at the search for natural products is one of the company's great challenges and, to this end, we will continue to invest resources and work hard to respond to a consumer who is increasingly aware of their diet”
Leaving it quite clear, the great commitment that Campofrío currently has in improving the quality of its products.
