Peter Johnston and his team worked
for months with an outside supplier,
contracted to keep the Select secret for
three years, on how to square the circle of
having seeds that stick, but also get the
roasting that is the secret to great taste.
They were successful, and the team is
justifiably proud of their in-house effort
to bring something new, unique and
improved to their customers. If the perfect
sesame seed cracker arrives on your table
one day, you’ll know the secret is out – and
who to thank.
The team is constantly innovating and
testing. New products must pass the
scrutiny of PARKnSHOP’s team who
compare costs, consider country of origin
when choosing testers, and conduct blind
internal testing with sophisticated
scoring sheets.
But Mr Johnston says, “Ultimately
it’s our customers who will drive [the
product], not us.” After all the tasting and
organoleptic observation, the customer’s
taste preference will determine whether
the product gets on the shelf. Much of
that demand is for healthier products.
But sometimes, the path to better health
means people have to change their taste
preferences which may be skewed towards
fat, sugar and other unhealthy taste
drivers. Fortunately, Hutchison Hain
is here.
HEALTHY HUTCHISON HAIN!
Hutchison Hain Organic Holdings Limited
is bringing the best of the West to
supermarkets across Asia to answer that
demand for healthy products. Founded as
a joint venture with American company
The Hain Celestial Group, they aim to
deliver A Healthier Way of Life
TM
.
General Manager Ole Walter radiates
the health he seeks to bring to others
and has a tremendous respect for the
discerning consumers they cater to. People
aren’t just choosing based on taste. Their
decisions are guided by complex thinking
heavily influenced by how they connect
taste to the broader culture and their
personal history.
“Consumers nowadays require context in
which they actually apply their knowledge
to make their own conscious decision …
It is something very individual and it’s
your own call whether or not you actually
want to follow it. It’s not only your health
situation that affects that decision but also
your values … whether you choose to avoid
artificial colours, flavours, preservatives,
antibiotics, hormones, GMOs and more,
that are commonly found in
conventional foods.”
Taste does, of course, play a big role in
consumer choices. But when it comes to
health, our taste can betray us, leading us
to choose the fantastically unhealthy over
more prudent choices. Some companies
adapting products to new markets
would take the easy way out, delivering
consumers their locally preferred form of
grease, hyper-salting, fat and sugar. But
Hutchison Hain takes a different approach.
They insist on doing the hard work of
educating the consumer instead of
taking the path of least resistance by
adding unhealthy taste elements as an
easy fix. Mr Walter aims to “Educate the
consumers on taste rather than matching
it and compromising on quality. The
naturalness of products requires our taste
to adjust.”
So whether it is thick-cut, low-fat Terra
Chips of blue potato, beetroot and batata
to replace traditional high-fat, salty chips,
or a chia seed and oat milk combination to
provide high-protein, mineral-rich dietary
fibre and omega fatty acids to Asia’s many
lactose-intolerant customers, Hutchison
Hain is bringing taste and great health
together.
TASTE OF CK HUTCHISON
“Ultimately it’s our customers
who will drive the product,
not us.”
Peter Johnston,
Quality and Food Safety Director
(Greater China),
PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited
SPHERE
#41
2016
12
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