We wanted to take a look at what flavor and taste experts were interested in brushing up on in August 2024. The trending headlines for August in the taste segment range from facility openings to mouthfeel insights.
1. Kerry Group Reports 2024 Half-Year Sales
Kerry Group shared 2024 half-year sales results with a revenue of €3.9 billion in the period comprised of volume growth of 1.7%. The company's EBITDA increased by 6.6% to €552 million, while the EBITDA margin increased by 160bps to 14.2%.
2. Symrise Debuts Office and Lab Facility for Food & Beverage in Beijing
Symrise invests €1.5 million in the creation and launch of Food & Beverage offices and lab facilities in Beijing. The location is designed to enhance the R&D capabilities, customer proximity and market presence in Northern China.
The labs are said to include specialized zones for beverage and dairy creation, application, savory creation as well as snacks and seasonings, each equipped with dedicated workstations and evaluation rooms.
3. How Mouthfeel Can Make Mocktails More Like Cocktails
Consumers choosing a low- or no-alcohol beverage have made it clear that they still want the experience associated with drinking. Therefore, alcohol alternatives need to capture the spirit of why people drink to begin with—incorporating all aspects that replicate the sensory experiences of a traditional cocktail.
To mimic these traditional cocktails, the flavor industry needs to develop more complete solutions that not only include flavor but also mouthfeel enhancers to take alcohol alternatives to the next level of complexity, creating the kind of social experience consumers crave from their adult beverage or mocktail.
4. IFF to Debut Shanghai Creative Center Expansion with Sensory Science Facilities
The 16,000 square-meter site is said to be IFF’s largest in Asia. The project is designed to drive the development of innovative solutions across the IFF portfolio in China and the Greater Asia market, further strengthening its global leadership in fragrances, flavors, functional ingredients and bioscience-based portfolios.
The design of the facilities is said to include an open-office layout, a sensory science center, a Scent creative center, and state-of-the-art labs, as well as a culinary demo kitchen with an instant noodle pilot line.
5. Pentane-2,3-dione in Savory, Brown, Dairy, Fruit & Other Flavors
Diacetyl was always the obvious traditional choice amongst buttery notes and the need to replace it posed a dilemma. The most obvious option was acetoin, especially in the important dairy category. In some respects, acetoin was actually more authentic than diacetyl in some dairy flavors. Pentane-2,3-dione (FEMA#: 2841, CAS#: 600-14-6) was a distant second choice for dairy flavors.
Outside the dairy category things were not so clear cut. All three chemicals are clearly dominated by strong buttery notes, but pentane-2,3-dione is distinctly deeper, with a more substantive profile. This characteristic can be advantageous in savory and brown flavors.
Note that the dose rates given throughout this article are the levels suggested for use in flavors intended to be dosed at 0.05% in ready-to-drink beverages or in a simple bouillon.
