Email Us info@fiberstar.net
Call Us +1 (715) 425-7550
ORDER SAMPLE
Menu

Fiberstar Blog

Upcycled Citrus Fiber - Citri-Fi
November 8, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Top 5 Facts about Citri-Fi® Upcycled Citrus Fiber

The True Citrus Fiber Pioneers – Fiberstar, Inc. The Fiberstar team takes pride in being the upcycling citrus fiber forerunners. For over 20 years, Fiberstar’s expertise revolved around creating value-added products from plant-based fibers, specifically citrus-based fibers. This technology evolved years before other food ingredient companies jumped on the bandwagon after noticing the value that citrus fiber brings to the food and beverage market. The 20-year mastery in citrus fiber technology and dedicated passion built a solid foundation for converting side streams into value-added ingredients. Because of this, Fiberstar produced a line of citrus fibers that fit today’s paradigm –…

Read more →

Formulating Meat Substitutes using Citrus Fiber
September 29, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Formulating Meat Substitutes: Citri-Fi® Portfolio

Formulating meat substitutes has been an on-going challenge for every plant-based food producer. For instance, consumers expect the foods to taste exactly like animal-based products. Without that parity, consumers skip the re-purchase and gravitate back to their beloved fleshy bits. Though meat substitute products come close to their animal counterparts, they still fall short in taste and texture. To create a meat substitute requires plant-based ingredients. For example, product developers use a protein base in addition to texturizers, stabilizers, and gelling agents. This hodgepodge of ingredients are needed to create the firm meat-like texture, succulence and binding. At the same…

Read more →

Formulating with Citrus Fiber
September 26, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

6 Ways to Formulating with Citrus Fiber

Look at a food product’s label and you will be daunted at how many food ingredients are listed. Some are your classics found in grandmother’s pantry. Others struggle to roll off the tongue easily. And then some ingredients read like hieroglyphics dug up from an Egyptian crypt. Regardless, formulating with citrus fiber and/or other natural functional ingredients can help clean up food labels which improves the product’s image. The market demands more natural ingredients that create high quality healthy food products with a long shelf-life. Using the words ‘natural ingredients’ and ‘long shelf-life’ in the same sentence is an oxymoron…

Read more →

Pumpkin Pie Filling - Citrus Fiber
August 30, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Perfecting the Pumpkin Pie Filling – Citrus Fiber

Tis the season when baristas whip up frothy pumpkin spice lattes and shoppers restock their pantries with pumpkin spice everything. Over the years, pumpkin spice penetrated almost every food group including beer, cookies, candy and even butters. This flavor trend evolved into a tradition which marks the dawn of a new season. Despite pumpkin spice’s trendiness, its popularity originated in the traditional pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Pie Filling Pitfalls As soon as Fall arrives in the U.S., every baker is pumping out fresh pumpkin pies. And like most shelf-stable foods, pies fall victim of stability issues. Over time, water migration…

Read more →

Citrus Fibers Improves Stability and Mouthfeel in Plant-based Beverages
July 26, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Strip the Stabilizers – Plant-based Beverages

In previous articles crafted about plant-based beverages, the topics focused on types of plant milks, food ingredient usage and processing methods. Yet, none honed in on the clean label trend. Simplified food labeling continues to be a hot topic especially in plant-based milks like oat milk and almond milk. Some manufacturers tout their homemade style processing which uses no stabilizers. At the same time, stability and texture tend to be compromised. In the 1980’s, finding a sludge of chocolate at the bottom of a milk glass created Cheshire smiles on every kid’s face. Today, finding a slug of particulates at…

Read more →

Citrus Fiber used as a tomato paste extender for pizza sauce
July 12, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

The Secret Sauce: Tomato Paste Extender for Pizza Sauce

Years ago, I attended a new product development course at the Annual IFT Expo. The instructor assigned groups to tackle one of New Orleans’s conundrums – lack of nutrition within the homeless community. To fully understand the communities’ needs, our group milled around the city on foot interviewing shelters, missions and other non-profit homeless organizations. We returned to our class with the ultimate idea – pizza. Pizza met the nutritional requirements to survive the streets. This ideal delivery system full of vegetables, proteins and grains was packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals. And the secret sauce – no pun intended…

Read more →

plating agent - citrus fiber - dry carrier
May 31, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Plating Agent: Citrus Fiber Nature’s Dry Carrier

In previous articles, Fiberstar touted how Citri-Fi citrus fiber converted liquids into flowable powders. Though it sounds like a form of wizardry, this citrus fiber’s high surface area lends itself to this magical act. And when stacked up against other plating agents on the market such as maltodextrin, food starches and silicates, many prefer citrus fiber due to its clean label status. Plating Agent Magic: Citrus Fiber Citri-Fi is an upcycled citrus fiber produced from byproduct of the citrus juicing industry. The process, which is free from chemical modifications, opens up the fiber to create high surface area. As a result,…

Read more →

Citrus Fiber Tomato Extender in Tomato Sauce
May 25, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Tomato Extender: Squeezing out the FAQ

You say tomato. I say tomayto. Regardless, tomato and tomayto stem from the same fruit source which has disappear-ato. Recently, adverse weather and disease ripped thru the once thriving agricultural staple. As a result, tomato processors are converting less material which set a chain reaction in the food industry. Many food manufacturers scrambling to secure supply and/or find alternative solutions such as tomato extenders find themselves in dire straits. This shortage is affecting numerous tomato-based products including tomato paste, sauces like pasta, pizza, and BBQ, salad dressings, condiments, and soups. Reducing tomato content creates several challenges such as reduced flavor…

Read more →

May 2, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Organic Citrus Fiber: Nature’s Upcycled Food

The organic food market exploded over the past few decades. What started with a heightened demand for organic fruits and vegetables expanded into other categories such as canned foods, bakery flours, sauces and spices. According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the U.S. organic food sales in 2020 grew 12.8% to a new high of $56.4 billion. And about 6 percent of the food sold in the United States was certified organic. However, the U.S. is not alone with demanding more organic foods on the market. This trend streams across the globe in other regions like Europe and Asia Pacific….

Read more →

Improved texture and stability in dips and spreads
January 27, 2023
No Comments
Fiberstar Blog

Dips and Spreads the Good Word – Citrus Fiber

Hosting a party is not complete without a smorgasbord of dips and spreads to go with your chips and crackers. Dips range from dairy-based like sour cream to bean-based like hummus. Over the past few years, this category experienced a surge of innovation. For instance, the clean label movement spurred many foods to contain more natural ingredients with shorter listings. The plant-based trend drove new innovation in dairy-free or dairy alternative options. And to minimize consumer fatigue, new flavors and seasoning options emerged including bold ethnic flavor profiles. Challenges in Dips and Spreads Formulations Despite the popularity of dips and…

Read more →