One of the new offerings, GrandFusion Vegan Protein, is a vegan-friendly product, based on pea, potato and cranberry proteins. Another, GrandFusion Complete, is a meal replacement product that features edestin (hemp) and albumin protein. NutriFusion CEO William Grand said the choice of proteins was made to stay within the company’s vision of offering specially stabilized, clean, natural ingredients.
“One of the things to note is that we don’t use any soy in any of our proteins. Most of the soy that you can buy now is GMO. There are digestibility issues with soy. It just has a number of issues that make it not as friendly to the body. A lot of companies use it because it is cheap but it is generally regarded as not as good as the alternatives,” Grand told FoodNavigator-USA.
Patented stabilization
The new products all feature NutriFusion’s patented stabilization process which Grand said enables manufacturers to include powdered fruits and veggies in snacks, pasta, pasta sauce, crackers and other products that are subjected to high temperatures and rigorous production processes and retain their nutritional value to the end of their shelf-life - meaning they don’t have to add synthetic vitamins to ensure label claims such as ‘good source of vitamin C’ can be validated.
The technology involves a ‘natural stabilization process’ to preserve and stabilize the nutrients—which Grand describes as the ‘black box’ part of the technology—but says he “doesn’t use heat, chemicals or synthetics” to process the fruits/veggies (which are processed separately and then subsequently freeze dried and blended).
The GrandFusion protein blend product is offered in several different guises at different concentrations. Two of the five blends include cranberry protein along with the pea and potato proteins. Protein concentrations range from 75% up to 90% or more and have Non GMO Project verification, Grand said.
“The GrandFusion product is allergen free, completely plant based and naturally lactose free,” he said.
The GrandFusion Complete meal replacement powder based on a mixture of hemp, sesame, chia, flax, sunflower and squash. The product features both edestin, the protein in hemp, and albumin, which is usually associated with egg whites but can be found in certain plant seeds, the company said. In addition for high protein content, the product makes a claim for a balanced omega 3-6-9 ratio and is offered in both flavored and unflavored versions for addition to juice drinks, milkshakes, soups, and cereals. The product contains 49 grams of protein and 17 grams of fiber per 100 grams.
Private label opportunity
In addition to the two protein-based products GrandFusion is launching two packaged functional food products called NutriFusion's Lift energy drink mix powder and NutriStix Antioxidant drink supplement powder, both packaged for ease of transport for active on-the-go consumers. NutriFusion’s new offerings are formulated as either ingredients or finished functional food and supplement products. But Grand said the company is not committed to a direct to market strategy per se; rather, the new products could be considered more of a proof of concept run to serve as examples for distribution customers to package with their own labels.
GrandFusion will be highlighting the new products at its booth, No. 339 at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, CA.