Flavorman Celebrates 30 Years

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (January 14, 2022) — Flavorman, a leading beverage development company headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is celebrating 30 years of creating flavors for beverage brands worldwide, ranging from large companies like Ocean Spray, Sunsweet Growers, and Kellogg to independent companies just getting a start in the beverage industry.

Flavorman was founded in January 1992 by David Dafoe — one of the foremost authorities on flavor who got his start as a lab assistant at a Cincinnati-based flavor company, then as manager of flavor development at Brown-Forman, where he developed some of the global spirits giant’s biggest new brands. He left Brown Forman and branched out on his own to start Flavorman to help assist beverage clients in creating new flavors. Flavorman’s first big customer was Chiquita Brands International.

Flavorman has helped many companies get their start in the beverage industry. Louisville resident, Joe Heron, used Flavorman to create his soda company Nutrisoda, which he later sold to PepsiAmericas. Two years later, with the help of Flavorman, he created a craft cider, Crispin Hard Cider, which was later sold to MillerCoors. Heron went on to further make a splash in the spirits industry after he founded Copper & Kings American Brandy Company with the help of Dafoe and Flavorman.

Located at 809 South 8th Street in Louisville, Ky., Flavorman is currently expanding its 24,000-square-foot facility, which will bring 30 new jobs to the area and serve as a catalyst for attracting global business to the heart of Kentucky’s largest city. The addition will cover 27,000 square feet and connect to the company’s main laboratory. Once complete, it will boost production capacity, expanding Flavorman’s blending, bottling/canning, processing and bulk storage operations.

The $8.5 million expansion, set to be complete in the fall of 2022, is the latest in a series of developments in the last several years as the company continues to experience exponential growth — 28 of its 59 employees were hired in the last two years. In 2006, Flavorman rehabbed the existing building, and a few years later, purchased a neighboring building to create the nation’s premier educational distillery, Moonshine University.

Together, Flavorman and Moonshine University make up a world-class “Beverage Campus” that houses a fully equipped educational distillery, state-of-the-art classroom, production facility with a custom bottling line, extensive sensory library and a beverage innovation laboratory. Flavorman has developed more than 74,000 beverage formulations for brands worldwide, while Moonshine University has hosted hands-on classes for students from all 50 states and 44 countries, with attendees opening over 186 distilleries.

ABOUT FLAVORMAN: Founded by David Dafoe in 1992, Flavorman is a custom beverage development company located in the heart of Bourbon country. Flavorman works with companies and entrepreneurs– big and small –to develop everything from energy drinks to flavored spirits and more. With 30 years in the industry and almost 75,000 beverage formulations, Flavorman has helped create thousands of household staples and iconic brands that have defined generations — and changed what the world is drinking. For more information, visit www.flavorman.com