No More Mold: Achieving Consistent Quality with Standardized Cultured Wheat

Finding a Clean Label Preservative

A commercial bakery producing a range of products including breads, pizza crusts, and pitas set a goal to eliminate chemical preservatives by the end of 2025 as part of their clean label initiatives. With increasing retailer and consumer demand for clean labels, they needed a solution that would allow them to remain competitive in the market.

As a starting point, they chose to replace calcium propionate, a synthetic preservative, with cultured wheat flour. Its fermented origin, clean label appeal, and ability to extend shelf life made it a strong fit for their breads, pitas, and pizza crusts.

Read more about cultured wheat and its functionality here: Cultured Wheat Flour

However, removing chemical preservatives proved more challenging then initially than expected. The team had limited experience with clean label ingredients and lacked the internal R&D expertise needed to reformulate with confidence.

The Challenge: Inconsistent Performance

They started facing challenges with the cultured wheat from another supplier. While the initial transition to cultured wheat seemed successful, they noticed inconsistent performance over time. They were experiencing differences in shelf life and quality across batches, despite using the same percentage of cultured wheat in each formulation. Some batches appeared to contain too much cultured wheat, which negatively impacted texture, flavor, and overall product quality. Other batches lacked sufficient cultured wheat, leading to early spoilage.

After further investigation, the team identified two key issues. Variability in the cultured wheat potency from their original supplier and human error during weighing and batching. Because cultured wheat is used at low inclusion levels, even small deviations led to noticeable performance differences.

The bakery was already heavily invested in cultured wheat flour but was losing thousands of dollars due to discarded batches. The inconsistency left them frustrated and close to abandoning their clean label goals altogether.

The Solution: Potent and Custom Standardized Cultured Wheat Flour

The bakery partnered with Think Ingredients to find a solution.

Given the challenges with consistency, we recommended switching to our standardized cultured wheat flour. The process began with a new round of shelf life testing, during which we worked closely with the bakery’s R&D team to determine the correct concentration of cultured wheat needed for effective mold inhibition without impacting quality. Once the ideal level of cultured wheat was determined, we established a standardized concentration that allowed it to be added at an easy inclusion weight, helping reduce weighing variability and manufacturing errors. This concentration was blended and standardized at our blending facility in Burlington to ensure consistent potency and reliable performance.

The result was a standardized cultured wheat that could be added at an easy-to-handle weight, significantly reducing human error while guaranteeing a consistent level of functional preservative in every batch.

The Results: Consistent Quality and Streamlined Processes

With the new solution in place, the bakery saw immediate improvements. Mold inhibition was effective, and shelf life was consistency in every batch. Product uniformity was restored, ensuring customers received the same high-quality and clean label baked goods every time. Their production also became more efficient, simplifying batching and training time.

Their operations manager shared:

"Think Ingredients’ cultured wheat flour completely solved our consistency issues. Their expertise have given us confidence in our formulations and helped us deliver on our promise of clean-label."

They saved money, time, and won customer loyalty. Customers quickly noticed the improved quality and clean label, leading to an increase in product sales. The shift to a cleaner label allowed them to stay competitive and strengthen their market position.

Let’s Think Differently About Clean-Label Solutions

At Think Ingredients, we’re committed to providing innovative, natural solutions that enhance product quality and meet consumer demands. Our standardized cultured wheat flour ensures your products stay fresher longer, with the consistency your customers expect. Going clean label doesn’t have to be difficult or frustrating.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you achieve reliable, clean-label success in your formulations.