As a concept, natural flavor can be complicated and technical because there are regulations, each customer has a different perspective of it, and the definition changes depending on the country.
Natural flavor is defined in the United States by the FDA as “a substance extracted, distilled, or similarly derived from plant or animal matter, either as is or after it has been roasted, heated, or fermented, and whose function is for flavor not nutrition.”
At Innova Flavors, we think buying flavor should not be viewed as a one-off transaction because of its complexity, but rather a long-term partnership built on trust. Trust between customer and flavor company can be established through supply chain transparency and ingredient documentation, providing insight into sourcing.
Whether you have a flavor supplier or you are open to explore new opportunities by looking for the best natural flavor company to partner with, you will need to determine with that flavor partner if you want the natural flavor concentrated. When using concentrated flavor, a little goes a long way. In its concentrated form, flavor is stronger and more easily amplified than alternative methods which can make it an exceptional method for cost-in-use savings and improved flavor profiles.
5 Benefits of Natural Flavor Concentrates
We have been around long enough to know that if a consumer doesn’t like the flavor of your product, they aren’t buying it again. And that using flavor fillers when not necessary or required for the flavor performance can dilute that all-important taste. At Innova Flavors, we are natural flavor concentrate experts for meat and savory flavors.
If that’s what you’re looking for, schedule a call with us. We would love to talk about your products and how natural flavor concentrates can turn them into a mouthwatering success.
Below are five benefits of natural flavor concentrates you should know when determining if this method is right for your product.
1. Lower Usage Rate
When it comes to evaluating the price of flavor, it can be easy to get stuck in a “price per pound” mentality. This makes concentrated natural flavor seem more expensive, but when considering the cost-in-use, that’s generally not the case. It’s quite the opposite.
Traditionally, seasoning requires more volume to achieve the same impact as concentrated flavoring. For example, a common seasoning could cost around $4 a pound with a usage level of seven percent. Concentrated natural flavoring, on the other hand, might cost $10 a pound with a usage level of one percent or less. When buying for 100 pounds of product, it’s easy to see how concentrated natural flavoring usually wins, and not just by the volume calculation.
2. Lower Shipping Costs
Because less is more with concentrated natural flavoring, you can lower your shipping costs. The smaller volume of concentrated flavors versus alternative methods means carrier costs go down. Over time, the reduced cost of shipping can save some serious capital.
And because you don’t need such large quantities…
3. Less Storage is Required
Buying less overall poundage of flavoring means not only will your shipping costs lower, so too will the requirements for storing flavoring. Concentrated natural flavoring requires less warehouse space, which can also reduce the overall costs of flavoring your products.
4. More Flexibility
Concentrated natural flavoring can be customized to withstand processing conditions, can be water or oil soluble, as well as dry or paste form. It can also free up a certain percentage of your taste components, providing the flexibility for increased complexity due to liberated space in the formula. For example, if you have a marinade that requires certain functional ingredients with predetermined parameters that limit the amount of solids. Working with a concentrated natural flavor can help you manage that better.
5. Better Flavor Characterization
Concentrated flavoring helps you not only customize the end product, but it also gives you more flexibility in the characterization of the flavor. For example, the ability to move from a standard chicken flavor using just chicken powder, yeast, or hydrolyzed vegetable proteins to a chicken flavor with skin and pan drippings is only possible with a flavor. The processes to create a flavor allow for complexity in delivering a flavor profile.
Because taste is your product’s competitive advantage, giving yourself flexibility and control to fine-tune that flavor experience, even with a completely clean label, is one of the most impactful benefits of using natural flavor concentrates.
If you would like to talk to someone about concentrated natural flavoring for your products, you can schedule a free consultation with us here.
