Fruit Flavored Energy Bar Production Process And New Product Development At Pt. Nutrisi Harapan Bangsa, Bekasi

Abstract

Food industries continuously evolve to comply with consumer demands and preferences, requiring creativity and innovation to provide various products favorable in the market. The internship in PT. Nutrisi Harapan Bangsa has increased the author’s knowledge and skills about new product development in food companies. During the internship, the whole process of new product development, starting from market research, formulation and trials, to BPOM registration process was conducted. In the span of the internship, a project was also assigned to develop new energy bars variants with fruit flavors with desirable proximate content, determining its acceptability and preference among consumers. Five fruit-flavored energy bars were developed during this project, and two were discussed in this report (Mango Coconut & Chocolate Banana). The findings suggest that Mango Coconut and Chocolate Banana energy bars’ attributes tested (color, aroma, texture, and taste) through the sensory evaluation are acceptable and liked moderately by the panelists (Median scores=4). Furthermore, it was observed that Mango Coconut flavor was the most preferred flavor among the samples, while Chocolate Banana is the least preferred flavor. These energy bars also have a relatively desirable proximate content to provide energy during exercises, with higher fiber content, made with natural sweeteners and no preservatives. More reformulations or variants could be done to improve the protein content of the energy bars to be more desirable to consumers as well as providing more nutritional information to customers.