It was about 1965 when tbe flavor industry came to an important crossroad, a time for a decision concerning its financial allocations and emphasis in research for biotechnology.
At that time the industry observed some statistical consumer information indicating a possible trend toward “natural flavors,” some signs, as it were, that there might be a genuine need for a resource commitment but no concrete evidence that guaranteed where the consumer was heading. Some in the industry believed that the cry for “naturals” was just some kind of mystery market that would pass, a temporary chemophobia. For others, the vision urged them to move forward with research. Nineteen sixty-five then was the year when only a few companies commited resources and decided to use biotechnology to produce flavors.
The biotechnology front for the flavor industry remained relatively quiet until about the mid-eighties when the “natural” rush really started. By 1984 tbe cry for “natural” was not a statistical trend anymore, it became a fact.
