“SoFlexi is a powdered mix that allows consumers to create fresh yogurt-tasting snacks at their convenience. Whether they are in the mood for a drinking yogurt, some ice cream or an acid drink, they can indulge almost instantly thanks to SoFlexi,” claims Mathieu Lucot, Marketing Manager at EPI Ingredients. 

“But the goal for EPI Ingredients is not to sell the concept. Our objective with SoFlexi it is to drive innovation and help our customers

visualize what they can do with our ingredients, all the way from the bulk ingredient to actual CPG marketing,” he explains. 

“Consumers today are looking for health in their nutrition,” Lucot tells journalist“Yogurt has this healthy image for the consumers, but it is very complicated to put a fresh yogurt in your bag in the morning and eat it as a snack. With SoFlexi, you only need fresh water, and you can easily eat your drinking yogurt as a snack,” he explains. 

According to Lucot, this product took six months to develop. “Fermented powders are our star range,” he claims. “The future idea for us is to prove that they are a nutritional power, in particular for the gut health. Actually, we have some dry dairy ingredients with alive bacteria, which they dont have the same beneficial effect as a fresh yogurt - that is our next challenge.”

“The next big innovation, in my opinion, will be the on-the-way yogurt, with an innovative galenic form. We know that thermalized yogurt exists, with long term BBD, and it is a big trend in Asia because of the weather condition. The innovation could answer to lots of consumers, all over the world,” Lucot notes.

SoFlexi is the first concept of the range SoUnik, designed to showcase the unique characteristics of EPI Ingredients’ product offering. Other concepts will soon be added to this range to get manufacturers excited about new healthy indulgence developments featuring the company’s ingredients and that will satisfy consumers’ cravings for both taste and well-being.

SoFlexi comes in individual pouches containing 40g (≈ 1.41oz) of a powdered mix made of only 5 ingredients and including EPILAC Lowfat Yogurt Powder 48. To cater to consumers who are always pressed for time and looking for convenient, “on-the-go” snack options, SoFlexi has been developed to allow quick and easy transformation into one of three products:

• Blend it with ice cubes and milk to get an instant milkshake
• Simply mix it with water for a delicious and convenient drinking yogurt
• Add your favorite fruit juice and you’ve created a tasty acid drink

Regardless of the chosen application, EPILAC Lowfat Yogurt Powder 48 brings natural acidity and a pleasant yogurt flavor as well as a smooth creamy texture to the end product.

EPILAC powders
EPILAC ingredients are a range of premium fermented powders – yogurt powder, quark powder and fermented milk powder – with differentiating features such as, among others, the presence of live cultures in some of them. 

For example, EPILAC Lowfat Yogurt Powder 48 offers the possibility of calling the end-product