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ColdSwell: How Advanced Cold-Water Starches Are Shaping Food Product Innovation

 

INSIGHTS

Why Cold-Process Functionality Matters Today

In a market defined by plant-based growth, clean label demands, cost pressures and manufacturing efficiency, ingredient innovation plays a critical role in product success. Food producers are increasingly seeking solutions that deliver robust functionality across cold-processed systems — from sauces and dressings to gluten-free bakery and clinical nutrition formulations.

Cold-process starch performance has become a key enabler in this space. ColdSwell, a series of pre-gelatinized cold-water swelling potato starches from KMC, represents a technology with deep application versatility and proven production benefits.

STEP 1

What Makes ColdSwell Technically Unique

ColdSwell’s core advantage stems from its spray-cooking production process. Traditional cold-water starches are often drum-dried, a method that fragments granules and can compromise performance. In contrast, ColdSwell’s spray-cooking:

  • Preserves intact starch granules, enhancing water binding and swelling efficiency.
  • Improves dispersibility — larger agglomerated particles hydrate quickly and resist lumping.
  • Enables easier cold incorporation without heat treatment.

From a formulation perspective, this translates into a starch system that is functional, consistent, and efficient across cold conditions — a key value as brands innovate faster and move beyond traditional thermal processing approaches.

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INSIGHTS

Four Emerging Trends Where ColdSwell Drives Value

1. Clean label & plant-based texture innovation

Consumers are redefining expectations around texture and mouthfeel — even in plant-based products. ColdSwell enables formulators to design viscosity profiles that emulate higher-fat or traditional formulations without artificial thickeners or high additive loads.

  • Works in cold processing (e.g., dressings, smoothies).

  • Supports plant-based reductions (e.g., lower fat mayonnaise) when combined with plant emulsifiers.

This aligns with market momentum toward natural, plant-based and recognizable ingredients, satisfying both regulatory and shopper expectations.

2. Cost-Optimised Production & Resource Efficiency

With raw material costs rising and sustainability targets tightening, operational efficiency has become a differentiator.

ColdSwell’s high functional performance allows typical dosage to be 10–15% lower than standard pre-gelatinized starches. This can:

  • Reduce ingredient costs per batch.

  • Lower storage and handling requirements.

  • Improve process yields by reducing waste and over-stabilization.

For producers operating at scale, such gains can have a measurable impact on margin without compromising final product quality.

 Targeting the perfect dose of starch is very important, as ColdSwell applied in high dosages may result in over-stabilization and very high viscosity.

3. Versatility across application formats

ColdSwell’s broad functional profile supports multiple product categories:

  • Gluten-free bakery: provides viscosity, elasticity and flexibility in dough systems — addressing a well-known challenge in gluten-free bread structure.

  • Fillings & custards: enables instant control of texture and viscosity, even without heat.

  • Clinical nutrition: instant thickening in dietary powders and gels, with reliable hydration across temperatures.

  • Mayonnaise & dressings: thickener and texturizer for fat-reduced products, maintaining mouthfeel and stability.

4. Precision control of viscosity & sensory outcomes

Beyond simply thickening, formulators today seek tailored rheology — from creamy to more structured textures — depending on end-use. ColdSwell can be selected or designed to:

  • Retain viscosity after heating for soups and sauces.

  • Lose viscosity predictably where a more fluid profile is needed.

  • Deliver consistent mouthfeel across production batches.

 

What This Means for Food Manufacturers

ColdSwell’s combined technological strengths and practical benefits help food manufacturers:

Improve manufacturing efficiency while maintaining or enhancing sensory quality.

Innovate across categories with one core ingredient technology.

As market dynamics push toward more intuitive and cost-effective ingredient solutions, ColdSwell provides a foundation upon which future product pipelines can be built.

 

 

INSIGHTS

Coldswelling starches

KMC 23.04.26 Produktbilleder13505
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