Background and challenges

Dairy products have a prominent place in the food culture of many countries and are considered important by consumers for their nutritional, functional and hedonic components. However, they are also subject to strong societal concerns and raise multiple issues related to human health, the environment and/or animal welfare. The design of new food products and processes must respond to these concerns and, by relying on scientific and technological advances, make it possible to achieve qualitative improvements, likely to contribute to real health and environmental benefits, in a way that is compatible, on the one hand, with consumer expectations and preferences and, on the other, with the technical, economic and organisational constraints of the sectors.

FroM'Innov is a process recently patented by INRAE that allows for better control of cheese quality, a reduction in manufacturing costs due to the simplification of the process, and sobriety of the process due to lower input requirements (energy and fluids) and with reduced and controlled outputs (co-products). Thanks to its great flexibility, this process makes it possible to obtain nutritionally balanced products offering a wide range of possibilities for the health of consumers, while reducing the environmental impact. Can this process, which represents a breakthrough innovation in cheese production, find a place on the market by meeting the expectations of both consumers and the industry? On the one hand, the advantages mentioned above may favour its adoption by these different actors. On the other hand, the possible changes in the sensory aspect, as well as the technological breakthrough that may be perceived as a loss of "naturalness" by consumers, may limit its diffusion. The objective of the project is to analyse these tensions and to evaluate under what conditions an innovation of this nature can contribute to the development of this type of product.

Goals

The project aims to

• study the conditions under which this new cheese technology is valued by the sector and consumers, from the point of view of nutritional and environmental benefits
• develop a methodological framework, reproducible in other contexts, for the design and evaluation of new food products and processes, in a perspective that is both integrative (taking into account the preferences and constraints of consumers and the sector) and multi-criteria (nutritional, environmental, sensory and economic dimensions).

INRAE units involved

• Science et technologie du lait et de l'oeuf
• Centre des sciences du goût et de l'alimentation
• Paris Saclay Applied Economics