Flavour creation and innovation
A flavourist
Think of a flavourist as a wizard of taste. These specialists in flavour science bring together deep chemistry knowledge and a touch of magic to create the flavour profiles that make foods and drinks unforgettable. A food and flavour chemist can work with anything from pure natural
extracts to clever synthetic compounds, always focused on crafting a taste experience that truly resonates. At Einar Willumsen, our flavour chemists are the driving force behind our most exciting flavours, transforming basic ingredients into taste experiences that make you want more.
What does a Flavourist do?
A flavour technologist’s job is all about shaping flavour profiles that align with a brand’s identity or give a product that perfect edge. One day, they might be perfecting the balance of sweetness in a new drink; the next, they’re creating a fresh berry flavour that feels as vibrant as the real thing. Armed with a toolkit full of flavour molecules and unique ingredients, they experiment and refine until each blend is spot-on for food or drink use. It’s not just about creativity – they also juggle regulations, market trends, and production limits. At Einar Willumsen, our flavour technologists work side by side with food scientists and sensory experts, bringing the latest in flavour science to life across our product range.
Although a cliché it is true that each day is different in the life of a flavourist. There is no single solution to creating a flavour. There may be unique commercial and legal requirements from market to market. Flavour creation can also greatly vary from each application e.g. a soft drink application is subject to quite different processes than a bakery product. While a flavourist’s job can be very creative, imaginative, and organoleptic it also demands knowledge of ingredients, reactions, and technical limitations e.g. solubility and volatility. The role of a flavourist is key to our core values and how we work.
How do Flavourist Come up with New Flavours?
Creating new flavours is a blend of science, creativity, and a dash of boldness. Flavour chemists draw inspiration from food trends, nature, and even the most unlikely combinations. They usually start with a clear target flavour profile – maybe a floral tea note, a zesty citrus twist, or the rich, earthy depth of roasted coffee. From there, they get creative, mixing ingredients and adjusting every detail until the flavour hits just right in terms of taste, aroma, and texture. Sometimes, this means breaking down natural foods to their core components and reassembling them in a whole new way. At Einar Willumsen, our flavour chemists are always pushing boundaries, combining traditional methods with the latest tech to create flavours that are fresh, authentic, and full of personality.
What is a flavour?
In its simplest form sensory impression of food and beverages is determined by taste and smell. To taste we use both our tongue and nose. Tongue receptors are responsible for basic taste while nose receptors are responsible for aroma. It is a common experience for everyone to suffer from a cold at some point, often accompanied by a blocked nose. This congestion not only causes discomfort but also affects our ability to taste food and beverages. Air is needed to get a full flavour perception as the sense of taste is closely linked to our sense of smell. When the nasal passages are blocked, the aromas of food cannot be fully detected.
What impacts our taste and flavour perception?
Working with flavours is also working with your senses. Many things can affect how we experience a flavour. Physical and visual parameters like temperature, colour and texture may alter our perception. Have you ever tasted a beverage with a completely different color than you expected? For example, imagine a blue strawberry soft drink. The way we experience and perceive flavors is deeply rooted in a combination of sensory impressions. Other factors such as emotions, stress tiredness and age can also greatly affect our perception of different flavours. Therefore, flavours and product samples are often tasted, tested, and evaluated at the beginning of the working day, when the senses are freshest and most receptive. Tasting is also highly subjective and our personal preferences, dislike or sensitivity to e.g. blue cheese must be taken into account. Despite the obvious challenges, our flavourists create many new flavours across multiple applications each day. Flavours ultimately end up on the shelves in supermarkets or convenience stores across the globe.
Nature is chemistry, and we analyse nature to understand its own recipes. An authentic, concentrated flavour will typically consist of 20-40 components whereas nature’s own recipes may consist of up to 600-800 components. We strive to unify art and science using nature’s own recipes in one hand and the flavourist tool box in the other, we create new exciting flavourings for the food and beverage industries. Take an apple for instance. In nature, an apple consists of hundreds of different ingredients all contributing to the flavour, texture and colour of the apple. When designing an apple we can compare the different ingredients with building blocks. We disassemble the blocks and analyze the different flavour characteristics of the individual building blocks. Only a few of those building blocks are essential to the apple’s flavour. The flavourists task is to identify and use the right building blocks in the right combination to create the exact flavour target. In an apple, you will find green notes and fruity elements as grassy flavours – the building blocks all contributing to the overall flavour of the apple.
Driving flavour innovation requires a feeling with recent market developments and trends. What is the difference between a peach and a white peach, how does a blue raspberry taste like and what trends are driving growth in which categories and sub-categories. At Einar Willumsen we work dedicated with trends and how they correlate with we we can see, buy and taste outthere on the shelves in retail.
Our innovative approach is deeply rooted in Nordic values, guiding us as we craft exceptional flavour solutions. Our journey began over a century ago, and today we stand as a testament to quality and creativity in the flavour industry. Our team of expert flavourists works in close collaboration with our partners, turning unique synergies into shared successes. At Einar Willumsen, we do not just create flavours; we create possibilities. Our extensive range covers everything from classic citrus notes to exotic and complex profiles, tailored to meet the evolving demands of the modern consumer.
