Bouillon cube process design by applying product driven process synthesis

Unilever produces Knorr™ bouillon cubes for last several decades in various regions like Africa, Caribbean Islands, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia etc. This high volume business generates revenues of an order of €1 bn/year. This article describes our approach for conceptual design of bouillon cube manufacturing process. Consumer attributes need to be taken into account while process design for such products. In this paper we used the product driven process synthesis approach for conceptual design of bouillon cube manufacturing process. In this approach we, based on the consumer attributes, defined the fundamental tasks to convert inputs (raw materials) into the desired outputs (bouillon cube microstructure). Given these fundamental tasks, logical alternative process flow sheets were generated. The most promising of these alternatives were experimentally tested. We found that by spraying the binder and selective granulation of less flowing ingredients increased homogeneity and flow-ability of the granules which also resulted into higher cube hardness. This has a positive influence on the consumer attributes. Using this novel process, we also demonstrated potential formulation flexibility and cost savings due to a reduction of fat and flow-agent as well as potential reduction of “maturation time”.