Case examples

Concrete actions in food industry development

SEAMK Food Labs has carried out a wide range of projects with companies of various sizes. We have supported startups in product conceptualization, solved technical production challenges, and developed new products together with small, medium-sized, and large companies alike. Our goal is to support all operators in the field, regardless of their stage of development.

As describing practical work best demonstrates our expertise, we have listed a few references here. These examples illustrate how diversely we utilize technological expertise, equipment, research knowledge, and student collaboration for the benefit of food industry companies.

”Case Aircohol”: From bioprocess side stream to food ingredient – Testing spray drying and extrusion

Aircohol Oy develops technology that utilizes industrial carbon dioxide emissions as a raw material. The company wanted to investigate the potential of the biomass generated as a process side stream in the food industry: the feasibility of drying algae mass into powder using a spray dryer, and how this powdered raw material could be utilized as part of a further processed prototype product.

For a startup company, investing in heavy process equipment is not feasible before the methods are verified. Scaling a bioprocess from laboratory to industrial scale requires testing unit operations with equipment that corresponds to industrial conditions.

“As a startup, we have limited resources to invest in equipment. In order to utilize the biomass fully, we needed a technical development partner. SEAMK had the necessary equipment, such as an extruder and a spray dryer, which we wanted to test in practice,” says Megan Maher, Product Developer at Aircohol.

The collaboration with SEAMK Food Labs was structured around a two-phase pilot. First, the liquid biomass was spray-dried into powder. In the second phase, the dry raw material was tested in an extrusion process as part of a pasta product. In both phases, the central focus was on optimizing the product and process by systematically testing various parameter combinations. The test arrangements were based on research literature and the process technology expertise of the SEAMK staff. As a result, the suitability for industrial manufacturing and boundary conditions were determined, and physical prototype product samples were produced for further development.

“We gained valuable information on process parameters in a short timeframe. If we had done this ourselves from scratch, the investigation would have taken considerably more time. The collaboration significantly accelerated our development,” states Maher.

The collaboration, which lasted about six months, provided Aircohol with indicative data on the suitability of the processes and the behavior of the raw material in industrial processing. Although the optimization of process parameters continues, the results obtained help the company evaluate the technology’s fit: whether to invest in in-house equipment or utilize contract manufacturing. Additionally, the accumulated technological understanding supports the commercialisation of the raw material to other operators.

Maher recommends the service especially to companies that want to test the manufacturability of their product concepts in an industrial environment before building their own production lines.

”Case Pritz”: From idea to recipe – The manufacturing process and pre-development of the Pritz drink product

Representatives of ERJ Oy approached SEAMK Food Labs with the goal of developing a new carbonated Pritz drink. The product concept posed technical challenges, particularly regarding the compatibility of raw materials: how to get the product components to function stably in a carbonated drink base.

The company’s trio of founders has a background in business studies. Taking the idea into practice required external process expertise and food technological support.

“We didn’t really have any industry experience or knowledge about this, or the food industry in general. This has been vital in the sense of figuring out how to get product development moving – because our own know-how regarding this is so limited,” states Jaakko Lempinen.

The goal of the collaboration was set to outline a suitable manufacturing process and recipe. Special attention was paid to the technical functionality of the product and monitoring its stability.

The foundation of efficient product development is created through careful preparation. Since raw material properties vary significantly between suppliers, SeAMK Food Labs instructed the company to acquire a comprehensive selection of sample options. This ensured that during piloting, it was possible to genuinely compare which raw material works best in the process. To ensure the product’s technical functionality, experts utilized research literature in the background work. Theoretical knowledge provided a ready-made framework for the experimental setup. This streamlined the testing, allowing the work to focus immediately on refining the recipe and process steps.

During the development days, practical know-how was transferred. Several test batches were produced in the laboratory to test the functionality of the recipe. A working model was chosen where company representatives participated in the manufacturing under expert guidance. This “hands-on” approach helped the company understand why certain process steps are critical for quality and shelf life.

“I felt that since our background knowledge was so limited, we wouldn’t have really known where to even start. Product development was specifically what concerned us most in the beginning—whether it was even possible to start doing something like this ourselves,” describes Lempinen.

As a result of the two-month project, the company possessed a tested recipe base, information on necessary equipment purchases, and an understanding of the manufacturing process. The collaboration turned the idea phase into concrete product development and gave the company the capabilities to continue the work independently.

These cases are examples of how our services have been tailored to meet the specific needs of each company. However, the possibilities are even more diverse. Contact us and introduce your topic – let’s figure out together if we have a solution and plan the implementation.

This website has been produced as part of the Future Frami Food Lab development project.

Future Frami Food Lab is an ERDF-funded project. The main objective of the project is to increase the role of South Ostrobothnia as a food region and as a leading expert in food technology and processes in Finland and as an internationally significant actor. The project also strengthens SeAMK Food Labs’ role as a testing platform for food technologies and processes and as an identified competence cluster in the field.