Inside the Bottle Ep. 2 - Flavor Expertise

My “flavorful” career began in 1986 when I started as a Flavor Technologist at Fries & Fries, now known as Givaudan, one of the largest flavor houses in the world. I worked under Flavor Chemist George Long, who trained me to identify and develop flavors that met the requirements set by clients in the food and beverage industry. We constantly mixed and experimented with extracts, compounds, and ingredients to create each flavor. It was akin to chefs using different spices, herbs, and produce to create a marinara sauce. However, providing the ideal flavor for our clients was a gamble because we rarely knew their intended application. For instance, an apple flavor used for a soda may not be ideal for flavoring vodka due to several formulation aspects. Since we weren’t aware of the client’s specific needs, the odds of success were equally determined by luck and expertise.

Three years later, I was recruited to join Brown Forman because of my experience working with wine coolers at Fries and Fries. There, I oversaw the complete formulation of many products, including Jack Daniels Country Cocktails, and became skilled in customized flavor applications. My approach was simple – instead of obtaining several random flavor submissions, I collaborated with a handful of flavor vendors to specify the exact requirements for our beverages. I provided them with the specific base to which the flavor would be added, the type of flavor needed, and a finished product description. This experience helped create many seamless products for Brown Forman and inspired me to fill a gap in the beverage industry.

Since our founding in 1992, Flavorman’s business model has taken a holistic approach with every client by acting as a consultant within the beverage industry. Even for a simple ingredient like flavor, there are many considerations. For example, flavor can be affected by using a glass bottle over an aluminum can due to sunlight exposure. Elements like shelf life, color additives, and manufacturing needs can all impact your product’s flavor. Typically, flavor houses will not ask these questions, but we do.

In the past three decades, Flavorman has grown its range of services organically, at the demands of our clients. Initially, we only created beverage formulations for brand owners and entrepreneurs. Since then, we have expanded into quality assurance, analytical testing, ingredient solutions, and on-site consulting for a true “Start Through Finish®” partnership. Recently, brands with established products have asked us to provide flavors without any consultative or development support, like how a typical flavor vendor works. We have created a library of hundreds of flavors with endless amounts of applications to accommodate this demand. We often say, “If you can think it, you can drink it,” because there truly is no flavor or beverage profile we haven’t developed. Furthermore, we still take an all-encompassing approach with our wholesale flavor clients, even if they opt out of any consulting services. This reasoning goes back to the discrepancy I discovered at Fries and Fries in 1986, so our clients never have to worry about “gambling” on the success of their product when they work with Flavorman.