When Miss Jones Baking Co. needed to reformulate its existing organic brownie and cake mixes for a better crumb structure, The Helmsman Group was able to step in to develop a new formula for a better overall customer experience.
The Challenge
Miss Jones Baking Co came to The Helmsman Group originally for the concept of an organic frosting line, however, due to customer feedback the company ultimately decided that it needed to re-formulate its existing line of organic brownie and cake mixes. As a brand dedicated to using organic ingredients to yield “from-scratch” results, Miss Jones Baking Co. needed a reformulation of both the wheat flour and the leavener that consumers could use to create rich flavors and a strong crumb structure in any household kitchen.
The Helmsman Group stepped in to reformulate the brand’s product line while fully capturing the brand’s deliciously simple, organic, and home-cooked treats.
The Helmsman Group stepped in to reformulate the brand’s product line while fully capturing the brand’s deliciously simple, organic, and home-cooked treats.
Our Solution
To consider how to best adjust the organic ingredients in the recipe, we fully immersed ourselves in the brand essence so that we could develop a new formulation to meet their audience’s needs. At Miss Jones Baking Co., the focus was on providing a more wholesome cake that you make in the home. The brand wanted to give customers permission to take the time to work together as a family and bake together. With that brand essence in mind, The Helmsman Group focused on innovating on the existing ingredients to find more stable organic ingredients to create the desired “lift”
Evaluating the existing formulation of Miss Jones Baking Co.’s recipes, we re-sourced key ingredients such as the high protein flour and leavener to improve the lift of the product. Because organic ingredients in cake mixes often have limitations to the level of lift they can get compared to non-organic ingredients, The Helmsman Group needed to develop a leavener and flour that could “double-act” to get the level of rise and shelf life that customers expect. Focusing on the key properties of mainstream conventional category leaders, we could replicate attributes of the recipes by incorporating alternate organic ingredients that yielded enhanced crumb structure. This shift in formulation meant that the flavors of the original recipe would also be impacted. Using our understanding of the brand’s focus on simple, good-tasting, and Southern flavors, as well as our understanding of organic ingredients, we were able to develop a new formula that fully encompassed Miss Jones Baking Co.’s brand.
Final Results
We developed a new formulation for Miss Jones Baking Co’s existing recipes that yielded consistent results in home kitchens. By fully immersing ourselves in the brand, we were able to evoke Southern baking flavors, winning Miss Jones Baking Co’s national awards:
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Best Brownie Mix— USA Today 2016
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Best White Cake Mix— USA Today 2018
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Best White Cake Mix— Southern Living 2018
Wrapping Things Up
By fully immersing ourselves at the core of the Miss Jones Baking Co. brand, we were able to reformulate organic cake and brownie mixes that embodied the mission of Southern, organic home-cooked goodness. As a result, the new reformulation met the high standards of a Southern audience, winning awards for its elevated taste and crumb structure.
