Shelf life in the form of Best Before or Use By date provides an indication of how long the product lasts before signs of deterioration start to take place and the food is no longer safe to consume. All food products in Australia require shelf life information or date marking displayed on the food labelling or packaging.
Determining shelf life is complex and requires a thorough understanding of the product recipe, process in which it was made, and issues that could occur over the life of the product. Shelf life is determined by testing at the laboratory at set intervals for both chemical, microbiological and sensory issues.
Nutritional content can be determined by the following methods:
a) theoretical calculation via online tools such as FSANZ calculator
b) testing at the laboratory for nutritional content – is the most accurate method
Most food businesses will require a food licence to sell food products in Australia. There are exceptions though, depending on what type of food you are selling, how it is made, and how you are selling it. The local shire council is currently the issuer and enforcer of this legislation and will determine whether you need a food licence based on your individual circumstances.
Product development is not straight forward and requires a number of steps to be undertaken to ensure the product is suitable for commercial production, as well as considerable time, money and resources.
Product development costs vary depending on what you are trying to achieve, type of product you have, whether there is an established process, type of functionality you want from the product, how it is supposed to perform, what kind of claims you want, whether you are manufacturing inhouse or with a contract manufacturer. It also depends on whether a formulation can actually be scaled up commercially or whether further formulation work is required to make a product safe with the required properties.
Commercialisation is a series of steps required to ensure your product can be manufactured on a large scale and be made available to a much larger audience within the marketplace for financial gain. It looks at critical parameters for commercial success of a product in areas of production, quality, distribution, marketing, sales, and customer service.
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