OLIF

Case Study - Pacific Flavours & Ingredients

Aug 21, 2025

Case Study: Pacific Flavours & Ingredients (New Zealand)

Snapshot

- Pacific Flavours manages over 30 new product development (NPD) projects per month across powder, beverage, and functional food categories
- Projects frequently involve late-stage changes, niche ingredient sourcing, and complex compliance requirements
- Prior to Olif, the team faced constant delays due to supplier validation, unclear briefs, and rework
- With Olif, Pacific streamlined formulation, improved compliance accuracy, and reduced turnaround time through automation and knowledge reuse

Real Projects, Real Challenges (Anonymised for Confidentiality)

Pacific Flavours juggles a high volume of customer-driven NPD. The examples below are based on actual project experiences, with identifying details anonymised to protect client confidentiality.

One week the team is stabilising an oat soft serve, only to pivot mid-stream to a shelf-stable powder. The next, a hydration sachet needs precise caffeine dosing and ends up bitter. In another, the sugar-free requirement comes in after the sample is already made. These are not edge cases. They are the norm.

The complexity compounds:
- Rare ingredient requests trigger long supplier searches and compliance checks
- Briefs evolve or lack critical specs, causing rounds of rework
- Manual FSANZ reviews slow down every project
- Setup and cleanup eat into formulation time

The Olif Fix: Smarter NPD from Brief to Batch

Smart Ingredient Sourcing and Management: Before vs After Olif

Before Olif	With Olif
Projects routinely stalled when customers requested ingredients not in stock — triggering manual searches, supplier vetting, and compliance checks	• Looks at the customer’s inventory when creating recipes. • Searches global ingredient databases and suggests ingredients that are approved under FSANZ. • Tags ingredients by prior use across projects • Displays MOQ, pricing tiers, supplier compliance, and lead times instantly

Brief Clarity and Version Control: Before vs After Olif

Before Olif	With Olif
Briefs often lacked key specs or changed midstream, causing teams to remake samples from scratch	• Structured brief builder prompts for essential inputs like sugar-free, allergen info, and marketing claims • Tracks and timestamps changes, flags when specs shift • Allows customer collaboration with approval checkpoints

FSANZ Auto-Regulatory Assistant: Before vs After Olif

Before Olif	With Olif
Each FSANZ review had to be done manually — time-consuming and error-prone, especially with unfamiliar categories	• Automatically flags regulatory issues based on product type • Screens for limits on additives, pH constraints, and claim validity • Generates audit-ready summaries for internal signoff and customer visibility

Functional Formulation Engine: Before vs After Olif

Before Olif	With Olif
Getting exact functional doses (e.g. 75 mg caffeine per serve) required spreadsheets, calculator work, and rounds of sensory correction	Highlights sensory risks (such as bitterness from high caffeine)

Development Time Optimiser: Before vs After Olif

Before Olif	With Olif
Project delays stacked up from unclear goals, remade samples, and repeated machine prep and cleanup	• Real-time dashboard flags blockers (waiting on sample, brief updated) • Logs learnings post-trial and shares across projects • Reuses templates, avoids starting from scratch each time

Client Result: Pacific Flavours

Challenge	What Changed with Olif
Manual chaos across formulation, compliance, and version control	• Prebuilt formulation templates support rapid testing • Flavour asset reuse across projects • Auto-generated compliance documentation • Shared visibility across R&D, marketing, and commercial teams

Impact: Each NPD project now runs on a streamlined, AI-assisted workflow that improves speed, transparency, and repeatability.

Built on AWS: Modular, Scalable Architecture

AWS Service	Role in Olif
API Gateway	Secure API access between frontend and backend functions
Lambda	Executes tasks such as formulation logic, ingredient matching, and FSANZ checks
Amazon Bedrock	Powers brief interpretation, substitution suggestions, and summary generation
MongoDB Atlas	Stores flavour assets, formulations, and project history
Amazon S3	Stores generated documentation and ingredient metadata
Step Functions	Orchestrates end-to-end NPD workflows
SageMaker (optional)	Predicts sensory outcomes and optimises dosage based on prior data

The Olif Advantage: From One-Off Fixes to Scalable Wins

Challenge Area	The Olif Advantage
R&D Timelines	Faster execution with fewer delays
Ingredient Management	Streamlined sourcing and asset reuse
Briefing Process	Clarity and version control across projects
Regulatory Compliance	Automated checks reduce errors and review time
Knowledge Sharing	Centralised insights that reduce rework and improve consistency

Olif helps the Pacific Flavours team launch smarter, move faster, and deliver consistently high-quality products across a growing portfolio of customers.

Simplifying Product Compliance ›