Mahan Lian Product Development Lab
The formula we create here is produced here, on the same production line. From your first idea to samples, pilot runs and full-scale production, one team is accountable to you.
Submitting an idea takes one minute · Kept confidential · Read by our development team, not a bot
Nominal annual production capacity
Product manufacturing licences
Quality-control laboratories
Product development laboratory
Production and R&D team
Active food brands producing with us
Where most products fail
The gap between the lab and the production line is where most time and money is lost. When a formula is created in one place and produced in another, every handover means rework.
The usual route
Your idea → consultant → external lab → finding a manufacturer → rebuilding the formula on the line → production. The formula changes hands several times and may be rebuilt each time.
The Mahan Lian route
Formula, samples, pilot and production all happen at Mahan Lian. The formula is tested on the same line used for full-scale production.
Who is it for?
Choose your path and tell us about it in the form at the bottom of the page.
Concern: time, and a new product failing on the shelf.
“Tell us your idea; we stay with you all the way to the shelf.”
Start here
Concern: raw materials, cost and no in-house R&D team.
“Your outsourced R&D team, without hiring or buying equipment.”
Start here
Concern: a signature taste and consistent quality in every branch.
“Your signature taste, identical in every branch.”
Start here
Concern: the taste, labelling and documents of the destination market.
“A product with the taste and documents of your market.”
Start here
Product development services
Each service is available within a production contract with Mahan Lian, or as a standalone service for your own factory.
Feasibility report: whether it can be done, the risks, and an estimate of raw-material cost.
Several rounds of samples with your feedback, the final formula and technical specifications.
An alternative formula with sensory and cost comparison when an ingredient becomes hard to source.
Trial production on the line and the process parameters for full-scale production.
Shelf-life testing and a tasting panel, so decisions are based on data.
Product specifications, nutrition information and support with licence documents.
Production instructions and training for your team, to produce in your own factory.
Periodic product reviews and proposals for new versions.
Want the product made under your own brand? See Private Label Food Manufacturing.
How we work together
At every step you know where you are and what comes next. Nothing is binding until you approve the written proposal.
Submit your idea
Fill in the one-minute form on this page. A few lines about your idea or concern are enough.
Conversation and NDA
A development specialist reads your message and asks questions. Listening first, proposals second. An NDA is signed before any technical discussion.
Idea clinic
You receive a feasibility report: whether the idea can be done, where the risks are and what the raw materials cost.
Written proposal
Scope, schedule and cost in writing, before any commitment.
Sampling
You taste the samples, give feedback and the formula is refined until it matches what you want.
Sensory and shelf life
A tasting panel and shelf-life testing, so decisions are based on data, not just preference.
Pilot on the line
Trial production on the same line used for full-scale production, with no surprises at industrial scale.
Under your brand, on the same line where the pilot ran.
Production instructions and training to produce in your own factory.
Packages
Start with the smallest step and take the next one whenever you are ready.
Step 1
When you only have an idea and want to know whether it can be done.
Recommended starting point
Step 2
For a brand that wants a production-ready formula.
Step 3
For a market test or trade-show samples at real production quality.
Step 4
For brands and chains with several products.
The cost of each package is confirmed in writing after the first conversation, before any work begins.
Our commitments
Your idea is your asset. Before we ask for anything, we make these clear.
What you write is used only for this conversation, and an NDA is signed before any technical discussion.
Ownership of the formula is settled in the contract before work starts, so nothing is left unclear.
The pilot runs on the same line used for full-scale production, not just in a test kitchen.
3 quality-control laboratories and 50 product manufacturing licences stand behind every sample.
FAQ
Seven steps: submitting your idea, a conversation and NDA, the idea clinic (feasibility), a written proposal, sampling, sensory and shelf-life evaluation, and a pilot on the production line. After that, the product is either produced at full scale at Mahan Lian or the technology is transferred to your factory.
Ownership of the formula is set out in writing in the contract before work starts, so nothing is left unclear.
Yes. What you write in the form is used only for that conversation, and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is signed before any technical discussion.
No. You can use only the development services and, through technology transfer, produce the product in your own factory. If you also produce with us, the formula is tested on the same line used for full-scale production.
Our core experience is in jams, marmalades, sauces, nut spreads and custom food solutions. If your idea is in another category, the idea clinic will tell you honestly whether it is feasible.
By package and scope. Before work starts you receive a written proposal with scope, schedule and cost, and nothing is binding until you approve it.
An independent lab hands you a formula and you still need to find a manufacturer. At Mahan Lian, the product development laboratory sits next to a production line with a nominal capacity of 25,600 tonnes a year, and one team is accountable from idea to production.
Submit your idea
Not a technical form, not a sales meeting. Just tell us what you have in mind; as your product development partner, we will find the way with you.
Read by a real person · A conversation, not a sales pitch · Kept confidential
