iTi Tropicals Unveils Six Custom Coconut Water and Coconut Milk Blend Prototypes, Designed to Highlight the Special Capabilities of Coconut Ingredients.
Unique Ingredients Showcase How Coconut Can Be Used to Create Innovative, Consumer-Preferred Products and Inspire Creativity
Lawrenceville, NJ (X February 2015) – iTi Tropicals, Inc. (iTi), a leading supplier of bulk tropical fruit juices, purees and concentrates, announced today the availability of six custom coconut water and coconut milk prototype blends designed specifically to stimulate research and development and to initiate a creative dialog. iTi’s goal is to encourage manufacturers to experiment with these special ingredients, discover new formulations and functions, and collaborate with iTi product development scientists for insights and assistance.
Displaying coconut ingredients, the prototypes include an Organic Coconut Water 100 percent juice beverage, two Coconut Milk beverages, a light Culinary Coconut Milk, an Apple-Coconut Water blend, and an Orange-Coconut Water blend. They are all packaged in shelf-stable 330-ml Tetra Prisma boxes. The coconut beverages highlight powerful ingredients for use in products including juice, tea, coffee, and soda, to mention a few. The coconut milk beverages can contribute mouthfeel, electrolytes and label-appeal to such foods as ice cream, yogurt, soup, dressings, and sauces.
“iTi product development scientists, the lifeblood of our state-of-the-art Innovation Center, are proud to offer our customers new and innovative ways to succeed with these ingredients,” said Gert van Manen, president, iTi Tropicals, Inc. “Strengthening our commitment, this is the first time we’ve actually secured time at a commercial pilot plant to create unique shelf-stable prototypes intended to spark creativity and stimulate creative conversations with our customers.”
The six prototypes include:
- The Organic Coconut Water, 100 percent juice prototype, is a pure and natural isotonic beverage featuring five essential electrolytes, more potassium than a banana, no added sugars, and is fat-free, cholesterol-free and preservative-free. It can be incorporated into many beverage applications and is often described as a natural sports drink.
- The two Coconut Milk beverages, Coconut Milk beverage made from 33 percent Coconut Water from concentrate and Coconut Milk beverage made from 100 percent Coconut Water from concentrate, are formulated with reconstituted Coconut Water from concentrate and coconut cream. Health benefits include a lower fat content (similar to reduced fat 2 percent milk) and appreciable amounts of electrolytes (potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium) from the coconut water. These creamy products are light white in color and have a pleasant taste without any added sugar. The use of coconut water in place of regular dilution water provides added body, a bolder flavor, and a pleasant texture. Further, the coconut water content of the Coconut Milk beverage made from 33 percent Coconut Water can be labeled as 30 percent juice, and the Coconut Milk beverage made from 100 percent Coconut Water can be labeled as 91 percent juice.
- The Light Coconut Culinary Milk prototype is a 6 percent fat coconut culinary milk designed predominantly for cooking. A vegan ingredient, it is dairy-, gluten-, and GMO-free. It is ideal for making vegan soup bisques.
- The Apple-Coconut Water and Orange-Coconut Water beverages are ingredient blends that showcase 100 percent juice products having 25 percent fewer calories versus all apple or all orange juice. This is accomplished because coconut water has asingle strength of only 4.2° brix. The coconut water provides juice content without interfering with the characteristic flavor, texture or color of other fruit juices.
New prototypes are planned for May 2015 including:
- Coconut water diluted to either 3° or 4° brix andwith1 percent sugar added.
- Coconut water and passionfruit blendwith100 percent juice content.
- Coconut water and acerola blendwith100 percent juice content.
- Coconut water, spinach, mango, and blueberries with 100 percent juice content.
- Coconut water, red beet, passionfruit, and carrots with 100 percent juice content.
- Toasted coconut water with100 percent juice content.
- Cranberry and coconut waterwith 100 percent juice content.
- Grape-coconut waterwith100 percent juice content.
“Our mission is to be our customer’s partner in innovation,” said Mr. van Manen. “The objective of our new prototype program is to get the creative juices flowing and help them translate inventive ideas into successful new products.”
Manufacturers can contact iTi Tropicals to obtain details and samples or to arrange a personal meeting. Please visit the iTi website at www.ititropicals.com or call +1 609-986-2711 for further information.