The change people hate

Hi {{first_name}} and happy Wednesday,

Some changes look small, yet they can collapse the whole structure.

Like pulling a single block from a Jenga tower, removing one element can seem harmless. The tower still stands, for a moment. Then everything gives way.

That same dynamic shows up in product reformulation.

A food and beverage company found itself at this point while exploring sodium and saturated fat reduction in snack products. The pressure to act was clear, as consumer expectations shifted and health targets rose.

But every potential change came with a trade-off. The challenge was finding the right lever without throwing everything else off.

Because taste, texture, and mouthfeel don’t fail gradually. When they’re off, consumers notice immediately.

As the team explored different options, the focus stayed on changing what’s inside without breaking what people love.

They came to us with a clear question:

Which technologies can meaningfully reduce sodium and saturated fat in snacks without sacrificing the experience consumers expect?

Here’s how we answered their question.

We began by surveying both commercially available solutions and approaches emerging from academic research.

This included ingredient-based strategies, processing techniques, and formulation approaches designed to reduce sodium and saturated fat while preserving sensory performance. The objective was to understand what exists today, what is gaining traction, where meaningful gaps remain, and, critically, how these approaches translate to our client’s product portfolio and which options are most promising.

Next, we conducted a global competitive review of snack products positioned around sodium and fat reduction.

This analysis revealed the dominant strategies used by leading brands, as well as their limitations. In many cases, similar techniques appeared repeatedly, signaling both maturity and constraint within the current landscape.

This step helped distinguish between widely adopted methods and areas where differentiation may still be possible.

To ground the research, we interviewed experts from both industry and academia.

These conversations surfaced practical considerations around scalability, cost, formulation complexity, and consumer acceptance that do not always appear in published data. We also engaged directly with a technology provider to access non-public insights and explore potential collaboration pathways.

This final step helped separate what is theoretically promising from what can realistically be applied.

By the end of the engagement, the client gained:

The work expanded the client’s option set without losing sight of what ultimately matters to consumers, including who to test and pilot with.