As the clean-label movement becomes less of trend and more of a standard within the food and beverage industry, brand owners, product developers and suppliers have to reevaluate their product formulations and accommodate this new consumer demand. The process of creating a clean-label product, or transitioning an existing product to a cleaner label, is rarely (if ever) a mere swap out of ingredients.
Clean-label requirements have forced companies to radically improve their game and become more prepared earlier on in the product development process than ever before. Over the past few years, in my role as the senior vice president of operations of Imbibe, I have been involved in the commercialization of hundreds of products that had to adhere in some way to a clean-label guideline. Through each project, our team became more sophisticated and adept at accommodating the clean-label requirements.
