Nesha Zalesny, MBA, Technical Consultant, IMR International
Nesha Zalesny has 20 years of technical experience in the food industry, starting with 12 years at CP Kelco in R&D and Technical Service. She developed formulations and prototypes for everything from baked goods and dairy applications to salad dressings and sauces. She developed consumer products at Javo Beverage as Director of New Product Development and did technical sales and service at Fiberstar, working on many clean label applications. Ms. Zalesny joined IMR in 2019, where she offers technical and business insights, hydrocolloid training and test development, product development consultation and ingredient resourcing. Ms. Zalesny has a BSc in Food Science from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Cal State San Marcos.
About IMR International
Based in San Diego, California, IMR International is the leading industrial market research and consulting company in food hydrocolloids. Since 1985, we offer comprehensive studies, multi-client and single-client, on all food hydrocolloids. Our research data covers virtually all hydrocolloids, including Agar, alginates, gum arabic, carrageenan, cassia, cellulosics (CMC, MCC, MC/HPMC), gelatin, gellan, guar, konjac, locust bean gum, pectin, starch, tara gum, and xanthan. Hydrocolloid producers, users, distributors, investment bankers, and many others, all make use of IMR’s in-depth and focused market data in arriving at go/no-go decisions. Since 1996, IMR has organized the Annual Food Hydrocolloid Conference, a gathering of who’s who in hydrocolloids. The conference alternates between Europe and the U.S. High-level executives from the spectrum of the hydrocolloid supply chain gather to discuss: Where are we? Where are we going? and How do we get there?
We also provide customized studies on all aspects of hydrocolloids as well as some other food ingredients.
Understanding Hydrocolloid Properties to Tackle Supply Chain Instability
As an ingredient class, hydrocolloids prove themselves exceedingly useful in a range of applications. Both established ingredient workhorses and new market entries provide needed technical attributes in formulations from beverages to baked goods, and frozen desserts to new plant-based alternatives. This presentation provides an update on the current supply chain availability of several key hydrocolloids. It then delves into technical and rheological properties to explain why they are hard to replace, but also offers strategies to consider when alternatives must be considered.
2021 Clean Label Premium Webinar
Tips & Tradeoffs when Formulating with Hydrocolloids
It’s often said that “taste is king,” but foods will be quickly rejected if their texture is found unacceptable. This jam-packed presentation looks at key concepts in selecting hydrocolloids. The discussion includes the basic properties of hydrocolloid texture (i.e., fluid and gel) and their interactions with other food components and each other. Other considerations impacting their use, from pH to processing to price, will be considered while the practical aspects of stability and shelf life will be discussed. The presentation ends with a list of “tips and tradeoffs” in hydrocolloid use.
Hydrocolloids: Clean Label Tools for Plant-Based Formulating
Replacing traditional protein sources with plant based proteins often results in a variety of problems from lack of mouthfeel and body to off-flavors. Hydrocolloids play a large role in solving these issues. Current plant based milk, yogurt, ice cream and meat ingredient declarations reveal which hydrocolloids are being used to solve common issues. We’ll take a look at ingredient declarations, talk about the functionality of the hydrocolloid in the system, possible formulation improvements and troubleshooting.
