Frost & Sullivan Applauds IFP's Superior Technology Performance and Best Practices in Providing Tailored, Application-specific Encapsulated Food Ingredients

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the food encapsulation market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Innovative Food Processors, Inc. (IFP) with the 2016 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation. IFP's proprietary PrimeCAP® range of encapsulated ingredients offer distinct benefits, such as customization and cost efficiency, to the food and beverage industry. The micro-encapsulated ingredients, supplied as free-flowing powders, are available as both tailored and ready-made products.

In conventional top-down or bottom-up fluid-bed spraying systems, the particles are hit head-on with the coating droplets to form a collision effect, resulting in imperfect coating layers replete with microscopic splashes, gaps, and voids on the particle surface. IFP's patented tangential spray system, on the other hand, has an angular impact on the powder particles of active materials, causing them to rise up and spin through a cloud of coating material. The rotating effect creates longer coating layers over the particle surface, and repeated passage through the coating zone in the fluid-bed results in the formation of multiple layers on the particle surface.

"IFP's adoption of a tangential spray coating system in its fluid-bed processors allows the company to uniquely produce a series of smooth coating layers over the food ingredient particles in a consistent manner," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Afia Allapitchai. "The fabrication of multiple layers endows the particles with higher resilience against any physical stress, while the thinner coating layers create a longer path for moisture to seep through and reach the core material."

In addition, manipulating the particle size, coating material used, and number of individual layers of coating materials deposited over the particle surface can alter the controlled interaction properties of the encapsulated food ingredients. This flexibility in manufacturing the encapsulated ingredients allows IFP to apply thinner coating layers. In the past, IFP's encapsulation technologies applied nearly 40% coating on the food ingredients, it now manufactures encapsulated products with as little as 15% to 5% coating, reducing coating usage and operating costs without lowering ingredient performance.

IFP has the largest batch fluid-bed capacity in North America. The PrimeCAP® ingredients are typically manufactured using conventional fluid-bed units that are customized by IFP with sensors and controls for handling encapsulation processes. The equipment optimally processes particle sizes in the range of 50 microns to 5,000 microns in diameter, enabling ingredient use in a wide range of food applications.

The PrimeCAP® encapsulated ingredients are primarily used in the bakery, meat, confection, snack food, and beverage industries for its benefits of controlled release, flavor masking and extension, superior shelf life, and isolation of active materials until interaction is desired. Some of its key encapsulated products include hot-melt coated leavening and mold inhibition ingredients in baking, acidulants for pH control and flavor contribution in meats, and salt for inhibiting interaction with meat proteins and reducing freeze/thaw impact of salt in frozen meats and vegetables.

"IFP also aims to deliver encapsulated ingredients to non–food-based industries, which use food-grade raw materials such as the cosmetic and dermatology sectors. The company provides encapsulated citric acid to the petroleum industry as an environment-friendly ingredient to support the fracking process," noted Allapitchai. "This ability to encapsulate any ingredient that meets the food-grade requirement enables IFP to capture newer markets."

The company is currently expanding its application laboratory to develop and evaluate new and unique ingredients and applications, specifically in bakery and beverage industries. Overall, IFP's capability and strategic initiative to adapt its encapsulation process according to the client's requirements bestows the company with a significant competitive advantage.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies that significantly influence both the functionality and the customer value of products and applications. The award lauds the high R&D spend towards innovation, its relevance to the industry, and its impact on brand perception.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Innovative Food Processors, Inc. (IFP)

IFP develops and delivers high performance powders that exceed expectations in solubility, taste and sensory characteristics. We take pride in 35+ years of collaboration and partnership with leading global food, supplement, sports nutrition, direct selling, and medical food companies. We offer customized support, turnkey manufacturing and expertise in every stage of the powder product development process.

We specialize in functional beverages, sports/nutrition supplements and medical foods containing high value ingredients. Customized processing services include leading-edge agglomeration and micro-encapsulation technologies and versatile packaging solutions. NSF Registered cGNP for Dietary Supplements and SQF Level III certified.

For more information on IFP's product development and processing:

website: ifpinc.biz

phone: 1-800-997-4437

About Frost & Sullivan

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan