Flavorings: Development of New Commercial Flavors

Food and beverage companies develop new products to meet a real or perceived consumer need or want and drive the flavor companies to develop flavors for new products and to improve the flavors of existing products. Flavor salespeople identify flavor needs for food and beverage companies. Flavor application chemists determine which existing flavors meet the needs of the food or beverage manufacturer. If necessary, flavor chemists create a new flavor. The food or beverage company requests flavor samples from two or more flavor suppliers, and then it conducts consumer tests to determine the acceptability of the product or flavor. Once the product is marketed, the process of improving the flavor or reducing its cost begins. The trend is for the consumer to purchase more and more different types of flavored products, which bodes well for the creative and highly competitive U.S. flavor industry.