Flavor Encapsulation in Food and Beverages

Carrying new and varied flavor combinations into food and beverage applications is a challenge for manufacturers, especially when it comes delivering flavors through natural products. Helen Hook, Marketing Manager at Ingredion EMEA, explores how nature-based flavor carriers can help brands burst onto the culinary scene.

- Helen Hook

Various new and exotic flavor fusions have hit the supermarket shelves over the past year: lychee and pineapple, Stracciatella and salted caramel and fennel and cardamom to name a few. With global travel now possible at the click of a button and the rise of the ‘Instagram effect’, exposure to new cultures, cuisines and flavors is increasing consumer demand and expectation for these foods and tastes to be available at home too. The emergence of the ‘adventurous consumer’ has seen a 17 percent average annual growth in global food and beverage launches with ethnic flavors over the 2013-20171 period.

The applications of these flavors, or combinations of flavors, is broadening beyond the traditional spice or seasoning blends and instant noodles and translating into flavored teas, savoury snacks, sports nutrition and powdered beverages.

Not only do manufacturers need to be aware of these new trends, they must also acquire the capability to effectively encapsulate these flavors and carry them into their final products.

PROCESSING SOLUTIONS

In order to meet demand for these bold and interesting flavors while assuring consistent and cost-effective production, ingredient formulations and processes need to advance. In particular, the process by which liquid-based flavors are converted into powders.