Custom Blending
A custom blend is a promise: that every batch will taste like the first one your customer liked. We keep that promise with tested raw materials, controlled blending and a record of every ingredient lot in every batch.
How It Works
- Brief. You tell us what you need: a flavor target, a product to match, a cost target, a label requirement, or all four. An existing specification or a gold-standard sample helps but is not required.
- Formulation. Our research and development group develops the formula in our test kitchen and laboratory, using the same raw material lots that will be used in production.
- Bench samples. You receive samples with a provisional specification, ingredient statement and nutrition information. We revise until you approve.
- Pilot run. A first production batch confirms that the blend performs at scale and sets the control limits for color, particle size, moisture and salt.
- Production. Scheduled runs with raw material lots recorded against each batch, in-process checks, finished product testing and a certificate of analysis.
Capabilities
| Blenders | Ribbon blenders from 500 lb to 5,000 lb batch capacity; paddle blenders for fragile leaf blends; liquid addition systems for oils and extracts |
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| Milling | In-line milling to blend particle size specifications, with sieve verification |
| Minimum run | 500 lb per blend |
| Packaging | Bulk bags and drums, pre-weighed batch packs, foodservice and retail containers |
| Programs | Kosher, certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified blends on segregated schedules |
| Allergens | Dedicated equipment and validated cleaning for sesame, mustard, dairy, soy and wheat ingredients; allergen changeover documented in HELM |
| Documentation | Specification sheet, ingredient statement, nutrition facts, allergen statement, certificate of analysis per batch, lot genealogy |
Confidentiality
Your formula is yours. We sign non-disclosure agreements on request, restrict access to formulations within HELM to the staff who need them, and never disclose customers or formulas to anyone. Many of the best-known seasonings in the market are blended by companies you have never heard of. We are comfortable being one of them.
Consistency by Design
Blends drift when raw materials drift. Because every raw material lot we use has been inspected and tested by us, HELM can select lots for a blend run that keep color, heat and volatile oil within the control limits set at pilot. When an ingredient from a new crop year tests differently, the formulator knows before the batch is made, not after the customer complains.
