CLIENT
Clean label Fruit Drink
OUR ROLE
We redefined fast-casual loyalty
Today’s Task
What We did Today?
Clean Label Fruit Drink (Rani Drink)
Our Product Development Plan – Clean Label Fruit Drink
Our plan included two key steps in the natural beverage formulation process:
• To develop the initial formulation once ingredient procurement was completed and client approval was obtained.
• To validate the thermal processing procedure required to ensure product safety, shelf stability, and nutrient retention in alignment with clean label and minimally processed beverage standards.
Event:
Clean Label Fruit Dice Beverage – Reverse Engineering of Rani Drink
How I felt it (initially before executing the actual task)
:Developing a Healthy, Natural Fruit Drink, Creating a healthier, naturally preserved fruit drink with added vitamins and minerals—while maintaining its sensory quality—was both a challenging and daunting task. Formulating a clean-label beverage requires minimal processing, careful natural preservation strategies, and strict compliance with food safety standards. Despite the complexity, my passion for food technology and processing kept me motivated. I was enthusiastic about diving into scientific research through trusted sources like PubMed, Web of Science, and food technology journals such as IIFST. With a health-focused, technically precise approach, I confidently began the formulation process.
Actual Task: Reverse Engineering
Key steps followed:
Fruit Selection
As per the client’s request, we selected four tropical fruits—Peach, Mango, Pineapple, and Orange—to be used as individual variants in our clean-label fruit drink formulation. Each fruit presented unique challenges in terms of colour, flavour, and taste, which had a direct impact on the sensory profile of the final product. Managing this diversity was one of the most demanding aspects of the formulation process.
Another major challenge we faced was the limited shelf life of the diced fruits procured from our vendors, typically lasting only 3–4 days. This required us to complete the formulation and processing within that window, adding time sensitivity to an already complex project. We’ll explore the sensory impact of each fruit and our shelf life management strategies in future updates.
Solution
What I did Today
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Preparation
All fruits were thoroughly washed with potable water and then rinsed with 100 ppm chlorine solution, followed by a second rinse to ensure the removal of any residues. This step ensured microbiological safety before processing.
Formulation and Blending
Each fruit was diced and blended individually to maintain control over consistency and flavour. Where needed, water was added to adjust concentration. We carefully monitored and adjusted the fruit-to-water ratio, pH, and °Brix levels to achieve the desired sensory experience, sweetness, and texture.
Thermal Processing
The beverages were pasteurized at 72°C for 2 minutes and then rapidly cooled to 4°C. This thermal treatment helped to control microbial growth while preserving the product’s organoleptic properties such as taste, aroma, and appearance.
Bottling
A cold-fill technique was used to fill the pasteurized beverages into sterilized PET bottles, which were then hermetically sealed. The bottled samples were stored at 4°C for post-production quality assessments, including microbial analysis, flavour retention, and physical stability testing.
What I Learned
• Flavor Retention Challenges: I have observed some flavors (notably orange and peach) showed mild volatility to the pasteurization temperature.
• Base Uniformity: Each fruit juice exhibited distinct behavior in terms of acidity and sweetness perception. This helped me to understand that each fruit juice base needs specific balancing and optimization strategy.
Outcome:
During the initial batch trials, the beverages exhibited natural sweetness and smooth texture. We need to standardize the color intensity and flavor profile across the four variants through optimization and preservation strategy.
What Went Well
• In the initial phase, the texture and sensory profile did not meet expectations and only matched approximately 50% of the benchmark sample (Rani drink).
• However, we successfully achieved the desired shelf life, as the pasteurization process was effectively standardized.
What Could I Have Done Better
• Flavor Balancing: Additional calibration is needed to strengthen peach and orange drink’s sensory profile.
• Stability Assessment: We observed the separation and sedimentation which needs to be standardized
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