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Achieving Cost-Effective World Class Flavor Creation

February 4, 2019 By Sensapure

Achieving Cost-Effective World Class Flavor Creation

Flavor creation is both art and science. While most in the industry recognize the number of variables involved in flavor creation. There are even more moving pieces when it comes to understanding a flavor budget.

Sensapure Flavor’s director of business development, Matt Doxey, says that misunderstanding flavor budget elements comes with a high price. “A lot of brands simply don’t know what a flavor should cost, and that can result in overpaying for a complete flavor system.” Doxey stresses that understanding a flavor’s budget is crucial to achieving cost-effective production. It demands high levels of trust and communication between flavor houses and brands.

Although achieving a cost-effective flavor system isn’t easy, it is always worth the effort. Let’s discuss the important variables of understanding cost effective flavors, the hidden cost of naturals, and how redefining mixology can often decrease flavor costs significantly.

Sensapure Flavor's Lab
Sensapure Flavor’s Lab

Understanding Flavor Creation and Budgets

There’s several components to consider when looking at a flavor budget: serving size, sweetener use, color use, natural vs. artificial ingredient/chemical use. As a general rule, natural flavors and sweeteners are more expensive. Serving size is relative to the quantity of product base (active ingredients) and what the base tastes like before flavoring. While red colors aren’t more costly than blues, the cost of colors can rise when utilizing natural colors.

The strength of active ingredients’ flavor in the product base is also a factor in the flavor budget. This is where the costs begin to vary the most among different flavor houses.

Five Flavor Ingredients or Fifty-five

Clients often have one or two words in mind when looking to flavor their product bases. “We want a ‘Fresh Berry’ flavor,” they say. Flavor chemists, on the other hand, have thousands of different chemicals in mind while creating a flavor. The words “Chocolate,” or “Blue Raspberry,” can result in a myriad of different formulations when consulting a flavor house. Like artists with blank canvases and a pallet of colors, possibilities are endless for flavor chemists with blank product bases.

Flavor chemists are trained to layer natural and/or artificial ingredients and chemicals to create complex and intriguing flavors. As the flavor system becomes more complicated, more chemicals are introduced, thus raising the cost of the final flavor. When you factor in aftertaste, texture, and mouthfeel, a flavor masterpiece is difficult to commercialize (too darned expensive). Often times, a brand will work through a dozen iterations of a flavor. After adding finishing touches, they’ll realize the added costs of those elements push the cost over the target budget.

Cost Effective Flavoring
Cost Effective Flavoring

The Hidden Costs of Naturals

Consumers are becoming more health conscious and demanding greater transparency in their food and supplement intakes. Brands are meeting customer’s needs by flavoring products with natural ingredients, natural sweeteners, and natural colors. Doxey says if there’s a hidden cost that brands come across when consulting with a flavor house, “It’s typically related to the rise in demand for naturals.” Replacing an artificial sweetener with a natural sweetener like Stevia or Monk Fruit brings up flavor cost. This is why brands and consumers pay premium for natural flavors or non-GMO labels on products.

Rise in demand for consumers and brand transparency is another reason flavor houses are getting away with raising costs. Standards for flavor costs within the industry are relative regardless. But up and coming trends in flavors and ingredients come with even more blurred lines. If brands are at risk of overpaying for an artificial fruit punch, the risk rapidly expands when it comes to an all natural coconut matcha flavor.

It’s important to understand that every flavor is unique. Some raw ingredients are more difficult to source than others due to location, availability, and rising prices of natural ingredients. Layered (multiple sensory) flavors or fringe flavors come with added costs no matter where flavors are made. But understanding a flavor budget minimizes risks of hidden costs in your final product.

Flavor Chemistry Lab
Flavor Chemistry Lab

Flavor Chemistry vs. Mixology

When looking to minimize the costs of a flavor, “mixology” and “flavor chemistry” must work hand-in-hand. Sensapure CEO, Jeff Reynolds said, “If flavor creation is both an art and a science, the balance and partnership between both functions is central in perfecting a cost-effective flavor system.” Mixology is a term used by lots of folks in lots of different ways. In product/applications development, this describes existing compounds (flavors, sweeteners, masking agents, active ingredients) “Mixing” to create new solutions.

Essentially, the mixology “toolbox” consists of the flavors and ingredients each brand, manufacturer or flavor house has on hand. With only mixology, flavor houses will “keep mixing” additional ingredients to achieve the goal, thus increasing final product cost. “Almost anyone can make something taste good for any amount of money,” Doxey says, “A lot of times people add more sweetener or more chemicals to cover up actives, which raises prices significantly.”

Flavor Chemistry

Utilizing flavor chemistry alongside mixology allows companies to simplify, minimize, and eliminate redundancies in the formulation. However, they can still create a flavor system that works well with actives such as caffeine and amino acids.

Doxey explains that mixology plus flavor chemistry is not about adding more to the flavor profile and thus increasing the budget. It’s about changing chemicals until the flavor profile is exactly right.

“The right combination of art (mixology) and science (flavor chemistry), can arrive at the specific formulation in order to enhance desired notes from the flavor while masking unwanted tastes of active ingredients,” said Reynolds. Doxey added, “Good flavor chemists are able to work with applications mixology to create a flavor with complexity while still meeting a clients needs economically.”

Flavor Forumlas
Flavor Forumlas

What To Consider in Flavor Creation

Each flavor house has a different viewpoint on how to meet the needs of their clients. However, not all have a good pulse of what a product should cost based on market parameters. It’s important to consider cost transparency within your contract and to work with a flavor partner who is upfront about costs from the beginning. Although some exotic and natural flavors can be costly, there shouldn’t be too many hidden costs throughout the process once when you identify the specific requirements and what you are looking for in your flavor profile.

While every company seeks to create cost-effective solutions, it’s critical to make sure that your flavor partner doesn’t sacrifice quality to cut costs. When properly designed, a great flavor doesn’t have to break the bank, and the amazing taste will have your customer coming back for more.

About Sensapure Flavors

Sensapure Flavors is a flavor house that services the nutrition and supplement industry with exciting flavor technology and unmatched applications experience. Born in a manufacturing company that understands the ever-changing needs of the nutraceutical industry, Sensapure combines new flavor technologies with deep product application experience.

Contact Us Today!

Sensapure Flavors
1945 S. Fremont Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84104

801-456-4284

Sensapure Flavors
Research and Technology Development
545 West Lambert Road, Bldg. D
Brea, CA. 92821

657-341-2200

Filed Under: 2019 News, Flavor Education, Year Archives Tagged With: brand, chemical, chemistry, consumer, cost, employee, flavor chemist, flavor combinations, flavor education, flavor library, flavor system, industry, ingredients, mixology, natural, nutrition, price, pricing, product development, standard, supplement

An Inside Look at a New Flavor Company

November 14, 2018 By Sensapure

An Inside Look at a New Flavor Company

“I knew that we would have people come, I just didn’t expect this crowd,” one of our Flavor Chemists, Mariano Gascon said as he looked around the room. “It’s amazing.” We had a great time partnering with Dyad Labs for our open house to highlight our new flavor company a few weeks ago. It rewarding for the whole team to see all of the hard work that went into building the new, renovated space. We filled the space with customers, potential customers and friends and families. We ate great food, gave tours of the new space, and told over 300 people what we’re passionate about creating.

Protein Taste Tests

Some of the highlights from the open house include the Dyad “Guess That Protein” activity. We had our visitors taste different types of protein like whey or soy. Then they had to attempt to identify which was which. We also had the “Sensapure Soda Bar.” Our flavor chemists created the perfect drink flavors for a self-mixing experiment. Last but not least, we had our Street Taco station from our favorite stand, El Paisa Grill. “It was all that we had planned it to be,” our founder and CEO, Jeff Reynolds said.

The new space represents a year of hard work, contracting, designing and coordinating to get it up and running. “It has been a long project,” said Reynolds “sometimes we thought it would never end.” Reynolds says now that the project is complete, they’re thrilled with the result and what they’ve accomplished since launching.

Our Building’s Purpose

The bright, transparent, new space is impressive. However, Reynolds’ intention for the building is about more than an upbeat and inspiring environment for the team. “We really wanted to build a customer experience here where our customers and potential customers can come and we can help them as a technology partner.”

This day wasn’t possible without those who attended, met our team and heard what we’re building together with customers. This new space will create opportunities to do what we love most, the art of creating flavors. We can’t wait to operate in this new space as we collaborate with our customers to bring their product bases to life with our flavors through the unique Sensapure development process.

Thank you to all of those who came and have helped us along the way to reach our goals. If you missed out, check out this short video we put together to remember some of highlights of the day.

– Your Sensapure team

Filed Under: 2018 News, News & Press Releases, Year Archives Tagged With: brand, building, consumer, employee, flavor chemist, industry, ingredients, nutrition, open house, product development, standard, tour

New Lab Up and Running in SLC

August 17, 2018 By Scott Rackham

New Lab Up and Running in Salt Lake City

The new lab in our Salt Lake City location is making it easier for Sensapure clients to gather feedback on new products and flavor systems. Do you have a project that would benefit from a trial in the Sensory Lab? Give us a holler.

new sensory lab in salt lake city

Sensory Lab in Salt Lake City

flavor lab in salt lake city
Flavor Lab in Salt Lake City

Filed Under: 2018 News, Conferences & Updates, Year Archives Tagged With: brand, building, consumer, employee, flavor chemist, industry, ingredients, nutrition, product development, sensory lab, standard, tour

Move-In Day Getting Close…

May 24, 2018 By Sensapure

Move-In Day Getting Close…

We wanted to share some of the exciting images from the new Sensapure Flavors building in Salt Lake City. The entrance and building signs are up and ready to move-in, the walls are painted, the carpet is getting installed, and we can see some of the amazing architectural elements beginning to get installed. Can’t wait to move-in and show off our new space to our clients, partners and friends at our Open house later this Summer. Stay Tuned!
[Read more…]

Filed Under: 2018 News, Conferences & Updates, Year Archives Tagged With: brand, building, consumer, employee, flavor chemist, industry, ingredients, nutrition, product development, sensory lab, standard, tour

1945 S. Fremont Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84104

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