The Kudos Blends chemists have had a busy 12 months. The team have grown their knowledge from exposure across the business areas, from manufacturing our products to solving customer problems. In doing so, their innovative thinking grew too.
Here is just a little insight into their significant achievements during 2025:
Development of a method to measure the rate of reaction of baking powder in a batter medium
Traditionally, rate of reaction (DRR or ROR to those of you in the know) is measured in doughs by a method developed by Monsanto back in the 1960s. The Kudos Blends team have created the means to look at baking powder reaction in cake batters, so we are better placed to understand the influence of other ingredients on leavening agent reactivity. Equipment had to be designed and sourced together with method development to deliver a meaningful result.
Accelerated method development for the prediction of real-time shelf life of baking powders
Ascertaining the shelf life of products is a challenge faced by all of the food industry, and no less so at Kudos Blends when developing new blends. The team have come up with a superb method where sealed samples are placed into a temperature-controlled environment, and their functionality degradation is monitored via regular testing. The exhibited shelf-life at different temperatures can then be approximated to standard conditions through some nifty maths.
Customer product reformulation
With the purchase of a new powder rheometer called the FT4, we have been able to determine how our powders flow, compress, and aerate. When presented with a challenge to reformulate a product due to allergen concerns, the team were quickly able to use the new machine’s capability to come up with the solution.
Commissioning of the new milling line
Handling powders that behave like buckets of water can be challenging to say the least! Our chemists have thrown themselves into optimising the performance of the new mill line, preventing segregation at the packing operation to improve efficiency and consistency. Their patience in the extensive analysis required over weeks of commissioning is tantamount to their perseverance to ensure our process is optimised.
Delivering efficiencies in production
Always striving to make the production process more efficient, the team were determined to reduce the blending time of the powders. Through relentless testing, several products have reduced blending times, providing us with increased capacity.
New quality control method for determining chloride in blends
A faster, more precise method of testing some of our products, allowing direct measurement of salt or calcium chloride, provides even greater assurance of how well they are blended.
Chinese supplier audit and relationship building
Verification of our global suppliers, together with the building of partnerships for successful transparency in the supply chain, is essential as we source necessary ingredients to maximise supply options and security. Our chemist, Ryan Roberts, an intrepid traveller, visited China for a 4-week tour, meeting existing and new suppliers of our raw materials, forging strong relationships and auditing their processes and procedures.
Sourcing and approval of new raw materials
A thorough and pragmatic approach, both prior to approval of a raw material and during its trial ‘probation’ period, ensures new ingredients are put through their paces. Specifications from suppliers are challenged, and extensive testing is completed in both the laboratory and bakery, prior to passing to procurement and ultimately using it in our blends.
The capabilities of the chemistry team here at Kudos Blends are extensive. They act as a conduit to operations, getting into the detail of the production to ensure we manufacture high-quality, consistent products every time.
At the same time, they are ‘the chemistry behind baking’, working really closely with our bakery team and customers, delving into the chemistry of the products that we currently make or the innovative products being developed to ensure the products are optimised in an application.
The hardest bit about being a chemist in business is the thirst for knowledge. It is easy sometimes to be on a quest for information and research exact mechanisms without an apparent commercial end goal. However, innovation in its true sense comes from this quest for understanding, and if we allow time for fanciful thinking, sometimes it generates the best ideas.
