Development & Optimization of Consumer Recipes using Sprouted Whole Grains

Everspring is a diversified, niche oriented, family owned food business. Dale and Marianne Donaldson founded the business in 1985 and originally sought to develop a niche market for geese and ducks in Ontario. The business has grown over the years as the Donaldsons built a provincially inspected poultry processing plant and they now process 200,000 geese and ducks annually for sale in markets in Southwestern Ontario. Early on, the Donaldsons began growing hydroponic barley grass as a way of providing fresh grass for their birds all year round. This led them to learn about the nutritional transformation that takes place when a seed is sprouted. They began sprouting a variety of different grains and seeds for the bakery and retail food industries. As consumer interest in health and wellness continues to grow, Everspring plans to develop a line of healthy, tasty and innovative baking mixes that incorporates sprouted wheat grains. The FIRSt team will collaborated with Everspring to develop eight (8) baking mixes to be commercialized and sold as foodservice and retail packaged products. The FIRSt team was responsible for researching, prototyping, testing and providing recipes formulations, so that Everspring could manufacture the formulations in their own facilities. The workplan for this project included: Conducting a literature review; brainstorming sixteen (16) recipe concepts; prototyping twelve (12) recipes; finalizing eight (8) recipes to deliver two (2) quantitative sensory evaluations; and converting the recipes into benchtop formulations; conducting preliminary shelf-life testing on all mixes. After completing this project, Everspring has 8 commercialized baking mixes that can be sold as foodservice and retail products. The outcomes of this project will help Everspring with product development, company diversification and overall growth for their company