The flavoring segment is incredibly dynamic. Customers demand an ever-increasing variety of new tastes and flavors, or increased precision and nuance of existing flavors. Recognizing the opportunities that such demand creates, manufacturers are keen to provide customers with that experience and the race is on to be the first and best to do so. As a result, flavorings have grown to become a 24 billion USD per year industry.

Selling flavors is also highly specialized. flavor houses differ according to the portfolio of flavors, differentiation in volume capacities and sustainable sourcing levels. Manufacturers have strict demands too, evaluating flavors according to tonality, documentation and sustainability, as well as the distributor's ability to produce the necessary volumes and adhere to specific restrictions and regulatory compliances.

 

The heat is on

In March 2020, a major bakery manufacturer approached IMCD to work on a high-priority new dairy flavoring project for their wafer cookies. The smaller Canadian flavor houses they traditionally worked with struggled to find the right flavor profile due to the significantly higher level of complexity involved in dairy flavors. They were looking for a more extensive supplier capable of meeting their volume and demand. Having already invested heavily in a new plant and machinery for the new product, they needed a solution fast.

This was precisely the sort of challenge that excited the Technical flavor Specialists in the IMCD North America technical sales team. IMCD represents several best-in-class suppliers worldwide. However, the customer had strict parameters, such as the dairy flavoring had to be oil-soluble and could not use propylene glycol, commonly used as a carrier in most flavors. The customer needed a sample in two weeks, so our Technical flavor Specialists got to work.

Through close collaboration with our local flavor supplier, we were able to work through our vast flavor portfolio and vet out existing flavors, so a brand new flavor did not have to be developed, allowing us to meet the tight timeline. The result was a sample that met the taste and documentation requirements, all within the strict timeline.

 

The results have been outstanding for all the companies involved. The customer was delighted with their sample and is set to ramp up full-scale production of their wafer cookies using our dairy flavor solution. Meanwhile, this project has demonstrated IMCD's expertise in the area. The customer had never worked with us before, but we already have a second project together in the pipeline.

 

Learn more about IMCD's flavor capabilities.