Food and drink manufacturers must stop treating healthier reformulation as a straightforward one-for-one ingredient substitution, ACI Group has warned, as new industry research shows such projects can require millions of pounds in investment and often fail to reach launch.

The ingredient distributor and supply chain expert said successful reformulation depends on understanding how ingredients interact across the entire formulation and production process — and on bringing ingredient knowledge, supplier expertise and manufacturing reality together from the start.

ACI Group’s warning follows research from the Food and Drink Federation and Argon & Co, published in “Operational realities of healthier product innovation,” which found that healthier product innovation can demand substantial investment. The report highlights individual reformulation projects costing millions of pounds, while 69% of the 16 manufacturers surveyed said they had experienced projects that failed to reach launch.

Karsten Smet, CEO of ACI Group, said the figures would not surprise anyone who has worked on a reformulation project. From the outside, cutting sugar, salt or saturated fat, or adding protein and fibre, can look like a simple substitution, he said — but in reality, very few ingredients do just one job.

“Sugar is a good example. It sweetens, but it also provides bulk, controls water activity, affects browning and plays a role in texture and shelf life. Take it out and in solving one problem, we’ve opened up several others. The same is true of fat, salt and many of the ingredients brought in to replace them,” Smet said. “Reformulating for a better nutritional profile is good in principle, but we have to understand the complexity first.”

ACI Group said seemingly minor changes can ripple through the entire formulation and production process, triggering additional testing, line adjustments and, in some cases, compromises to taste or texture that consumers notice immediately. A recipe may work perfectly during development but behave very differently at scale, or lose stability and shelf life, the company added.

To get reformulation right, ACI Group says manufacturers should look beyond the immediate nutritional objective and consider wider improvements to product performance and supply chain efficiency. Smet said reformulation can also create opportunities to improve resilience, simplify sourcing or reconsider how the overall formulation performs, rather than treating the project as a narrow ingredient substitution.

“The key lies in bringing ingredient knowledge, supplier expertise and manufacturing reality together from the start. When you understand what each component is really doing, you can anticipate complications early, choose the right solutions and find a sensible balance between nutritional goals and commercial requirements,” he said.

ACI Group said a partner with supplier relationships and ingredient expertise can help manufacturers explore options they may not have considered and understand the trade-offs before committing time and budget.

Smet concluded: “Ultimately, improving a product’s nutritional profile is a worthwhile objective, but it only delivers a real benefit if the product makes it to launch, performs reliably in production and earns repeat purchases.”