Bell Flavors and Fragrances hosted its sixth Flavorology event on May 15 at the Chopping Block located in the Merchandise Mart, Chicago, which focused on creative innovation across flavor categories particularly supporting its new Spark trend program.
Flavorology is a gathering of Bell’s R&D, application specialists, industry chefs and key customers, to educate new technologies and flavor concepts to help Bell's customers.
The event was broken into two parts:
- The first consisted of tabletops highlighting Bell’s latest flavor and technology developments which were inspired by Bell’s Spark trend program.
- The second part, CheFusion, brought together industr-renowned chefs to create innovative cuisines showcasing Bell flavors in an "Iron-chef" like competition.
Bell’s tabletops consisted of finished products inspired by three of Bell’s Spark trends:
- The first was “Be Fit." Not skinny. Not fat. Not thin. Be fit is the new mantra from Baby Boomers to Millennials. Products featured included protein gummies, vitamin fortified hard candy and tropical lentil beverage.
- The second trend featured products from Spark’s “From Scratch” trend. Whether fermenting, crafting, making pasta or smoking meats, consumers yearn to return to the authentic traditions of their grandparents. This tabletop previewed Bell’s line of craft beer flavors in various applications, including ice cream, chip seasoning and barbecue sauce.
- The third Spark trend highlighted was “Well Traveled Kitchen: Southeast Asia and Middle East." Consumers’ pantries mirror their travels and taste ambitions. Southeast Asian cuisine is born from cultural influences of many neighboring countries, creating bold and complex flavor profiles. Flavors highlighted included Red Curry Coconut, Thai Kumquat Lemongrass and Kimchi.
- With the number of people with Middle Eastern origins living in the U.S. increasing 51% since 2000, Bell expects the flavors of this region to continue to increase. Flavors highlighted included Moroccan Spice and Ethiopian Spice.
- Other technologies presented during the tabletops included organic compliant flavors and flavor enhancers to provide sensations of sweetness and dairy notes in products that lack mouthfeel for low sugar, dairy and bakery products.
