A Focus On Food

We all like new taste choices in the foods that make their way from the farm to our diner table. And discovering what tastes good, or what sells well, doesn't just happen. When you cook, you want it to turn out just right. And when you're cooking for a living or developing new food choices, well, it's even more important.

Stephan Huntnyan, corporate chef for Tyson says, "Maybe it's cheese on the crust so you kind of get that rustic look from the Parmesan. Or in this one that's coming out next, the customer requested that we put cheese in the middle and that we do a hot sauce post squeeze on top for the spices so it's a visual cue."

Creating commercial cuisine is a bit of science and a bit of art. Across the country, food companies focus on transforming heartland commodities into new options for homes and restaurants. Today, it smells like pizza.

The cuisine development is going on at the Tyson Foods Discovery Center in Arkansas: 19 test kitchens, a pilot production plant and consumer test areas- creating culinary choices that, hopefully, bring restaurant customers back to the product.

Creating new food products from heartland ingredients means developing recipes, cooking procedures and cuisine presentation. Add to that specific customer demands. Steve says about a client, "A big part of the strategy for this client is to try and use more steak in their pizza. Steak is a big driver, it especially skews male."

These days, the economic realities of cuisine development mean that many restaurants and retailers ask producers like Tyson to take on the initial creation of new foods. Hal Carper, Group VP for Tyson says, "So as they have cut down on their resources, they're more reliant on Tyson to help them with the finished product concept."

Craig Bacon, Senior VP for Tyson says, "A few years ago who would have thought about having a steak pizza? Well, today we saw a steak pizza with some really different flavor profiles."

The foods development here also targets the changing tastes and culinary choices for consumers looking to buy products for their meals at home. Hal says, "Be it an articulated need, something they specifically asked for, or an unarticulated need, something that our consumer research has told them that they would want and need but they don't know it yet."

Critical to new products: chefs create concept foods they believe will appeal in appearance and taste as well as in convenience and affordability. Mario Valdovinos, Tyson's Director of Culinary Services says, "Whether you're trying to feed a family of four on a limited budget, or you're a fun loving foodie that wants to splurge on a cruise or your favorite white table cloth restaurant in your local neighborhood, we're trying to design products daily to meet the economic needs of our consumers."

Part of the process includes consumers taking part in focus groups. Sometimes it's questions about tastes and choices, sometimes it's product sampling.

For these deli choices, it even comes down to customer packaging. Steve Morris, Director of Packaging for Tyson says about a customer, "What they told us was they want a fresher image, a fresher look. And this tray overlap and pouching system gives a much fresher presentation than what we've had in the past."

But, before it makes it to the package, testing will involve samples in pilot production runs to see if it can be consistently replicated. Brad Davis, Tyson Project Leader explains, "I just want to make sure the product looks consistent, there's no breading or heating problems. The product just looks like it's made to the customer's specifications."

Changing demographics, changing tastes and cost considerations all play a role in consumer demands for new food products: Opportunities to take heartland commodities from farm to fork. Craig adds, "It's all about creating the idea and one; I've got an idea turning an idea into something tangible. Something I can show consumers and let them taste and eat it and go, Oh Boy. This is great."