Food and Beverage Laboratory

About food product development

Adelaide University's Food Product Development team provides the expertise, facilities and industry partnerships needed to support innovation across the food and beverage sector. Based in the Food and Beverage Laboratory (FABLAB) at the Waite campus, we work with industry and researchers to develop, test, and commercialise new food products and ingredients.

Our team supports cutting-edge food science research with the goal of delivering greater value to Australian primary producers and the food industry. We help address key challenges including sustainability, nutrition, food quality, and changing consumer preferences while leveraging emerging technologies to drive innovation.

We offer comprehensive research and development capabilities. If you are seeking technical expertise, developing an innovative food product, exploring a research opportunity, or looking for a collaborative partner – we welcome the opportunity to work with you.

Contact the Food and Beverage Laboratory

Key capabilities

End-to-end food product development support

Expertise across diverse food categories

Research and innovation using emerging ingredients

Advanced chemical, physical and nutritional analysis

Collaborative partnerships with industry

Personalised service

Explore food product development services

Food and ingredient preparation Food and ingredient preparation
Food physical analysis Food physical analysis
Food chemical and nutritional analysis Food chemical and nutritional analysis
Our people Our people

Our FABLAB is complemented by state-of-the-art facilities at the Food Innovation Laboratory, a commercial-style kitchen space, based at Waite campus. Within the labs, we are equipped to perform food product development for a wide range of categories from baked goods to ice cream and confectionery. Some examples of specialist equipment we have available beyond typical kitchen capabilities include:

Specialist homogenisers including high-shear rotor stators and a high-pressure homogeniser
Milling equipment including ball mills, hammer mills, centrifugal mills, cyclone mills, and a wet grinder
Separation equipment including an essential oil still, an oil press, a food centrifuge, and a sieve shaker
Drying equipment including dehydrators, freeze-dryers, and a vacuum oven

Our campus is equipped with an array of specialised equipment capable of measuring most of the important physical aspects of food across different food categories. Specialist equipment we have available includes:

MARS iQ Air Bearing Rotational Rheometer – measures how ingredients and foods flow in response to processing or cooking
Chopin Mixolab 2 Universal Dough Characteriser – measures how stiff or soft a dough is when it is being mixed, cooked, and cooled
Perten RVA 4800 Rapid Visco Analyser – measures how viscosity of ingredients like starch changes with cooking and cooling
Endecotts Minor 200 Sieve Shaker – separates powders by particle size
Stable Micro Systems TA.XTplusC Texture Analyser – measures how hard it is to compress or stretch specific foods using specific attachments

MARS iQ Air Bearing Rotational Rheometer

Stable Micro Systems TA.XTplusC Texture Analyser

We can perform nutritional testing (including protein, amino acids, starch, sugars, minerals, polyphenols, fats, pH) for the purposes of academic research and product development. Specialist equipment available includes:

Elementar Rapid N Exceed Nitrogen / Protein Analyser – burns samples and measures how much nitrogen is released to assess protein content
VELP Scientifica SER158 Automated Solvent Extractor – safely washes lipids out of food and ingredients to assess fat content
Ohaus MB120 Moisture Analyser – uses a sensitive balance and heat source to monitor moisture loss in real time
Novasina LabMaster-aw Neo Water Activity Meter – measures the availability of water in products to predict quality and potential for spoilage
Agilent Technologies Epoch2 Spectrophotometer – measures colour changes for quantitation of a wide range of nutrients and enzyme activities like antioxidant activities and starch content