Amy McDonald, President of Flavours North America at MANE, discusses flavour innovation, balancing natural ingredients with performance, and future trends shaping the industry
How do you approach balancing indulgence with health-conscious trends when developing flavours for confectionery items such as sweets and chocolates?
In today’s market, consumers are becoming more mindful of what they are eating, and we are seeing an increase in diet tracking. Despite this awareness, there is still a desire to satisfy sweet cravings with options that are considered permissible indulgences. As a global leader in flavour, MANE addresses this trend through several strategic approaches.
We collaborate comprehensively with customers to optimise product formulas, utilising modulation and masking tools to address sweetness and off notes, especially in reduced-sugar or health-focused products. Our Sense Capture™ Precision Taste Modulation platform integrates specific taste dimensions to tackle taste challenges, ensuring an optimal taste experience for foods and beverages. By leveraging our extensive flavour expertise, we help create indulgent profiles that offer rich, creamy, or decadent notes, appealing to consumer cravings. Additionally, incorporating health-positive ingredients like fruits or botanicals, to balance indulgence with a “healthy halo,” enhances the taste experience while promoting wellness and better-for-you appeal.
What role does flavour layering and complexity play in consumer perception of quality in confectionery, and how do you achieve that balance?
There are different methods of layering flavour in confectionery, which can affect consumer perception of quality. By introducing additional characteristics, such as a floral top note or spicy undertones, to a simple strawberry flavour, it can be transformed into a new and captivating taste experience.
Another method of layering flavour involves combining different flavour formats, like pairing a liquid flavour with encapsulated technologies to create a more complex taste experience, or even a flavour morphing perception. This type of layering can make all the difference in distinguishing quality for applications like chewing gum, which requires multiple formats to achieve flavour impact and longevity – key drivers in quality perception. In many applications, flavour layering can create new, unique experiences for the consumer by adding complexity or visual and textural stimulation.
How are evolving regional and cultural preferences influencing the flavour profiles you explore for global confectionery markets?
Evolving regional and cultural preferences are reshaping global confectionery by driving innovation beyond just flavour into texture, format, and storytelling. Consumers today crave authenticity, seeking ingredients and traditions from around the world while embracing bold combinations. The viral rise of “Dubai Chocolate,” filled with pistachio cream and kataifi, exemplifies how social media accelerates demand for culturally rich, texturally complex confections, influencing even mainstream brands.
At the same time, regional tastes continue to shape local adaptations. MANE’s TREND CAPTURE programme focuses on key macro trends that are globally relevant and designed for long-term impact. Within each macro trend, MANE’s regional teams collaborate worldwide to pinpoint and harmonise key annual sub-trends specific to each year. This strategic approach allows us to maintain a comprehensive global outlook while tailoring our innovations to suit the distinctive characteristics of each region.
What are some of the most significant challenges in flavour formulation for chocolate versus sugar-based confectionery, and how do you address them?
Chocolate versus sugar-based confectionery products each have their unique challenges. Chocolate incorporates fat, which can impede flavour, create impact/coverage issues, and drive imbalance in flavour. You’ll often see chocolate paired with flavours that complement notes pre-existing in the base, like sweet brown, bakery-type, or fruity-creamy flavours. Or, with flavours that drive impact and give that “wow” factor, like various peppers, heat, or mint.
Sugar-based confectionery often incorporates acid, which can be great for light, fruity, or sour flavours but challenging for more indulgent profiles. Additional differences include processing temperatures and flavour solubility.
Our flavour chemists understand the complex nature of confectionery bases and their impact on flavour performance. We use many methods to overcome these challenges, including taste modulation, encapsulation, and incorporating MANE proprietary molecules, to create impactful and cost-effective flavour solutions that have been proven successful in the market.
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