At Custom Flavors, we recognize the importance of giving back to the communities where we live and work, as well as to the larger world of food, beverages, and flavor development. Community service has always been one of our core values. Below, we explore how we put this commitment into action. Supporting the Next Generation of Food Science Leaders Custom Flavors President Alex Wendling, an alumnus of Chapman University, recently pledged $45,000 to create the Custom Flavors Scholars in Food Science fellowship. Wendling credits Chapman University’s Food Science program with guiding him to his true passion, food science, and teaching…
Custom Flavors has recently unveiled its Innovation Center – a cutting-edge facility designed to foster creativity, collaboration, and a rapid response to the ever-changing needs of the market. The Innovation Building soft-opened in 2021, but now, as pandemic restrictions have eased and the supply chain is restoring, the company is excited to invite the industry to discover its revolutionary capabilities. The Innovation Center expands its reach in research and development, featuring a state-of-the-art applications lab and advanced analytical equipment, making it the ultimate hub for flavor innovation. This expansion has enabled Custom Flavors to accelerate the creation of new flavors…
At Custom Flavors, we’re dedicated to more than just providing the highest quality flavors. We’re passionate about making a positive impact on our community, our environment, and our planet. In this blog, we’ll explore the strides we’ve made in sustainability and share our vision for a greener future. Reducing Our Carbon Footprint: A Step-by-Step Approach The increasing levels of carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses pose a significant threat to our environment’s long-term sustainability. We believe that adopting renewable energy and addressing climate change is essential for creating a brighter future. Here’s how we’re working to reduce our carbon footprint: Harnessing…
It’s no industry secret. Some functional ingredients with effects that customers crave simply don’t taste very good. Whether it be a bitter aftertaste or a sour front note, healthy and nutritious products sometimes have to be modulated, or changed, in order to be palatable to the masses. That being said, it’s not always as easy as mixing together great-tasting ingredients and serving up a delicious product to store shelves. Today’s customers want food and beverages that not only taste great but serve another function as well. From sugar reduction to vitamin fortification, shoppers simply expect more from their favorite brands….
Staying Ahead Of The Natural Curve In an attempt to both address a growing market and respond to the health preferences of our customers, natural and organic flavors/extracts will continue to be an important focus for Custom Flavors. What Exactly Is “Flavor” Anyway? What we consider “flavor” is the end result of a complex combination of taste, smell, and trigeminal sensations. These sensations, such as heat (as in chili) or cold (like peppermint) provide our tastebuds with the information our brain needs to process specific tastes. “Taste” is the sensation of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami directly detected by…
What does the average Whole Foods customer look like? Well, according to Business Insider, they’re 29-35 years old and make around $80K a year. They (and millions of other Whole Foods customers) enjoy organic, natural, and ethically-sourced foods/beverages that taste great and make them feel better about their health. They want to know where their purchases come from and how they were made. They want to be able to easily identify products that are well-regulated and continuously tested for safety and quality. And our average customer shops a lot, buying an estimated 9 items per trip, with each trip costing…
“Nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” Before we reveal our list of trending Custom Flavors…we want to talk a lot more about nostalgia. We’ve done our market research and we know that there’s a good chance that you probably love great-tasting food and beverages. We’ll go even further and hypothesize that either the 90s or 2000s have some pretty special significance to you. If they don’t, don’t worry. We’ve still got a few deliciously sweet and nostalgic points to make. Whether you spent those specific years…
Customers are demanding cleaner and healthier products from their vendors. From popular all-natural diets to new health concerns, consumers want to know that what they’re putting into their bodies is great tasting and nutritious, alongside being natural and ethically sourced. In anticipation of this demand, Custom Flavors has solved another problem that our competitors still haven’t fully addressed: Customers need more great-tasting organic extracts & flavors to choose from. We Know You Want Organic Flavors & Extracts This permanent shift toward simple, organic ingredients appears to be a process nightmare for some in the flavor industry. Whether they haven’t…