Chef Lawrence, Head of Food at J.O. Sims, has been putting the products through their paces in our Innovation Centre, and comments “The banana puree’s natural flavour works with such a wide variety of tastes including tangy, fruity, creamy, sweet, indulgent and savoury. It’s a great flavour to pair with current trending ingredients as well as being strong enough to lead as the main flavour.”

He continues, “Additionally, its functionality makes it really versatile for product development. We’ve had success using it as a natural binder and stabiliser in many recipes, with the bonus of great flavour. In some recipes the benefits of the full banana range led me to use them all! For a recent bakery brief, I created a filling using just two banana ingredients. A great alternative for ‘Crème Patissiere’. The banana puree created a smooth texture, which I thickened with the banana powder to provide the right viscosity, sweetness and mouthfeel. This resulted in a smooth natural filling free of refined sugar, additional starches as well as being low in fat.”

Emma Raper, Marketing and Innovation Manger, is delighted with the on trend ingredients, and says, “One Banana Ingredients offer strong sustainability and CSR credentials as well as being quality, cost effective ingredients with natural functionality. They are the perfect match to customer product development needs, whether EPD or NPD.”