“Mmmm!” is the ultimate reaction sought by food, beverage and supplement manufacturers.And for good reason: if a product it is bland or off-tasting and if it has an unpleasant mouthfeel, it will die quickly on store shelves. Getting it right the first time is imperative because American consumers are not willing to give it a second chance; they move on to the competition.

As gourmet and artisan foods quickly grow, Americans have never been more willing to experiment with their palates.Exotic spices, fruits and vegetables are alluring, and attendant nutrition and health benefits help seal the deal for trial.In convenience health/functional foods, this means keeping up with the growing sophistication and desire for new flavors and flavor combinations in tried-and-true products ranging from spoonable yogurts, salad dressings, soups and snacks to seltzers and fruit-soy/almond/coconut beverage concoctions.

The idea of new flavors in popular products is so attractive that Lay’s launched its “Do Us a Flavor” contest, seeking its line expansion by soliciting consumer ideas for its line expansion.The winning concepts—Cheesy Garlic Bread, Chicken & Waffles and Sriracha— are all now on shelves. Purchase volume will determine the winner to be announced in late spring.

To better understand how flavor companies work to enhance consumables, it helps a bit to understand exactly what “taste” is. Papillae (taste buds) are primarily located on the tongue, although they are also found on the soft palate, upper esophagus and epiglottis. Papillae help identify the tastes of salty, bitter, sour, sweet and the more recently identified umami, Japanese for “savory.” Researcher Jane Bradbury writes in her journal article1 “Taste Perception: Cracking the Code,” “Salty and sour detection is needed to control salt and acid balance. Bitter detection warns of foods containing poisons—many of the poisonous compounds produced by plants for defense are bitter. The quality sweet provides a guide to calorie-rich foods. And umami (the taste of the amino acid glutamate) may flag up protein- rich foods.” 

The flavor sector of the industry has seen tremendous growth, accelerating in the past several years due to the quickly burgeoning consumer demand for fewer synthetics and more natural ingredients in their foods and beverages.

Simon Robitaille, head of product development with Pennsylvania-based Alcrea Health/LiquiFab, explained that when the company began working with natural flavors, there were a small number of natural flavor extracts on the market.This limited access to flavoring ingredients resulted in greater natural flavor profile restrictions compared to artificial flavors. Now, he observed, the availability of natural ingredients makes it easier to transition from artificial to natural flavors. “As a contract manufacturer of nutritional health products, we have found it strategically important to develop our natural flavor expertise over the last five years as our clients’ demand for primarily natural flavors has increased, with focus on ‘clean’ labels and more natural product alternatives.”

Taste Challenges 

With an increasing demand for new alternatives comes challenges in ensuring viability and stability, and, of course, translating the correct taste that the consumer expects.

More recently, Robitaille observed that brand marketers are already beginning to ask for organic and alcohol-, PG- (propylene glycol) and preservative-free flavors. “We have to be creative to manage these requests. For example, when we have an alcohol- and PG-free request, an emulsion with gums and potassium sorbate as preservative is typically used. When we have a preservative free, a PG-free and an organic request, an organic-compliant alcohol and aromatic molecules are used,” he said.“Flavors always need a preservative system that is based on alcohol and/or PG, or potassium sorbate in a water base (emulsion).” 

Because the senses of smell and taste are often intertwined, authentic aromatic preservation is a challenge. Marie Wright, chief global flavorist with WILD Flavors in Kentucky, asserted, “With the use of extracts and distillates, the drive to preserve the delicate aroma chemicals can offer [poses] some challenges.Overall, creating natural flavors that can perform across a wide range of applications can be difficult, as sometimes the components are not readily available in both oil- and water-soluble forms.” 

Thom King, president of Oregon based Steviva Brands, Inc., sees the flavor masking of natural sugar substitutes as a key challenge. This includes stevia in which a variety of bulking agents, polyols and natural sweeteners are used to produce a sweet technical effect identical to sugar in taste and mouthfeel, without aftertaste, calories or carbohydrates.“Natural high-intensity sweeteners tend to transmit trace amounts of aftertaste,” he said. “For example, stevia will often impart a trace herbal or licorice aftertaste, and lo han guo tends to give a slightly metallic aftertaste. Therefore, the correct amount of aftertaste neutralizing (flavor masking) is critical for any highly sensitive palate.” 

He added, however, in some food and beverage formulation cases, an aftertaste can work to a degree; taking the flavor profile in a direction that enhances what the end product will be.“For example, a dark chocolate confection with stevia that imparts a slight licorice taste can work for those who love that combination. Or, in a citrus situation, the slight herbal aftertaste of stevia or that slight tingly metallic aftertaste of lo han guo can be a complement,” said King. “Overall, flavor masking has been the biggest challenge and as long as the right agents are used, it is often a very successful endeavor.” 

As stevia is so widely known by the consuming public, it is often the first natural sweetener brand marketers inquire about for their launches or relaunches.But according to King, it’s more than just the taste it addresses— achieving desirable mouthfeel is critical.“Because stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar … a little goes a long way,” he stated. This enables the use of bulking agents, gums, fillers and low-intensity sweetener (half as sweet as table sugar) to create a fuller mouth effect.“Stevia is tasted on the front of the palate while most polyols and sugar are tasted toward the rear of the palate.Combining these two can give the technical effect of full mouth- feel and taste,” King explained.

Tech Challenges 

On the technology front, Jerry Keys, beverage master flavorist with Indiana based Sensient Flavors LLC, said that two significant advancements have led to new opportunities in natural flavorings.First, the ability to source unique and rarely used starting materials for extraction and flavor creation has led to numerous new flavor profile offerings.“This has enabled food and beverage companies to offer products with new and exciting taste experiences,” he said.Second are improvements in both instrumentation and analytical evaluation methods, which have led to advancements in the identification and isolation of trace compounds found in fruits and botanicals. “This has resulted in ever improving source raw materials that are critical to the manufacturing and creation of new flavors.” 

As more natural flavors are sourced and ready for brand marketers/manufacturers, an integral element to consider is shelf life and stability. “Stability of 12 or 24 months at room temperature can be a challenge for flavorings,” offered Alcrea’s Robitaille, noting that flavors generally have a shelf life of 12 months and that the flavor needs time to be fully incorporated in the matrix. “With 12- to 24-month shelf life, the flavor can become ‘off’ by developing a sour or bitter taste. However, we rarely encounter this issue, and typically only in extremely specific products. When it happens, we have to change the flavoring to another that is more adaptable to our matrix.Flavors are composed of more than 2,000 active molecules. We use more than 500 ingredients in our formulations.There are cases where interactions and incompatibilities influence what is needed.” 

It is important to use gentle noninvasive technologies, especially low temperature, agreed Jim Shepherd, Sensient’s beverage general manager. He explained that Sensient Natural Origins’ line of natural flavors uses CO2 extraction and molecular distillation technologies to separate the original botanicals— “using low temperature and high vacuum to ensure, authentic taste profiles.”

Robitaille added that heat treatments (hot fill, flash pasteurization, UHT) can also change the flavor profile because heat can accelerate flavor degradation and cause a Maillard reaction (non-enzymatic browning).

Tasty Trends 

Any walk through a food market will yield an eye-popping array of unique and exotic flavor combinations for myriad foods and beverages. “Currently, there is a trend in varietal flavors, such as Bartlett pear and Fuji apple observed WILD’s Wright.” Consumers are more sophisticated and are excited to see the names of varieties they recognize. Orange is probably globally the No. 1 beverage flavor, but we are seeing the emergence of a more sophisticated orange: blood orange. These types of flavors are not limited to beverages, but find their way into savory and food service products, too.” 

Teresa Olah, beverage marketing manager with Sensient, agreed: “Driven by the significant advancements in source material, fruit varietals are becoming popular profiles for natural flavors. From varietal apples such as honey crisp to nuanced cherries such as morello, fruit varietals offer consumers a fresh twist on staple flavors. Additionally, superfruit flavors have also become popular natural flavors,” she said, noting the example of blue honeysuckle berry, which is considered to be an antioxidant powerhouse and offers a unique berry flavor profile best described as a cross between a blueberry and blackberry.

At Steviva, King also noted the emerging niche market of more creative flavors such as cucumber-lime, Asian pear and lime-cilantro. Dry sodas, he observed, appear to be a quickly trending category.In addition, beverage companies are moving away from zero-calorie and into a newly emerging category, mid-calorie beverages. “We’re receiving requests from big-name beverage companies seeking to develop these options. Our offering here is Fructevia, a blend of natural fructose, FOS, stevia and magnesium carbonate that tastes like sugar, but with more than twice the sweetening power.” 

Other projects he pointed to are a company seeking to create a sugar-free potato chip coating, a popcorn coating, and steak and poultry rubs—where a sweet profile is used to offset and enhance a salty profile. Some of the flavors are cool ranch, chili cheese, sweet onion and white cheddar, sweet chili, parmesan and sundried tomato, and margarita lime. Steviva is also working with a dry soda company on developing artisan flavor such as cucumber lime, watermelon cilantro, chili kiwi and key lime.

Additionally, Olah pointed out, as consumers continue to expand their palates, flavors inspired from global cuisine are also providing inspiration for natural flavors; these include the Ethiopian spice blend berbere and the scorching hot ghost pepper. “Consumers are looking for natural flavors with a global twist.”