Flavorman Teams Up with Yum! Brands and Papa John’s to Mentor Students Studying International Business

 

Louisville's international businesses give back to students.

Louisville students to learn international business skills

Business First by Stephanie Clouser, Reporter

Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 3:07pm EDT – Last Modified: Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 4:38pm EDT

 

Area high school students will learn skills related to international business as part of a new initiative.

 

Stephanie Clouser

Reporter – Business First

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Los Monitos Language Center Inc., Greater Louisville International Professionals and Crane House The Asia Institute Inc. will launch a new educational program introducing high school students to the world of international business, cultures and languages Oct. 22 at Bellarmine University.

The Amazing Global Marketplace is an educational program that enables students, with the help of mentors from companies established in the Louisville area, to participate in simulated international business scenarios. The program has been designed to expose students to rigorous international culture and business practices, while encouraging them to think globally and develop fundamental business skills.

Eastern, Seneca and Atherton high school will participate in this year’s program, which will begin in Bellarmine’s Hillary Hall at 10 a.m. on Oct. 22.

Companies that will be participating in the program include Sud Chemie Inc., Linak U.S. Inc., Papa Johns International Inc., Yum! Brands Inc., Flavorman, and Glowtouch Technologies. The program’s goal is to have six teams and six mentors.

“The program is designed to encourage young students to seriously consider a career in international business, where they can clearly see the application and competitive advantage of studying other languages and cultures,” said Bill Heinz, president of Los Monitos Language Center. “The world economy is interconnected, and we can no longer concentrate only on the economy of North America.”

During the next two semesters, AGM will provide teachers five lesson plans to teach basic competencies for doing international business. Students will learn skills in networking, interviewing, international marketing, global supply chain and global cultural norms.

The project also will engage volunteers with international backgrounds ranging from France, Japan, Mexico, Germany, China and India.

The culmination of the program will be on April 4, 2012, when each team will return to Bellarmine’s campus to compete in the Amazing Global Marketplace. Each team will be asked to fulfill an order with the most profit in the shortest amount of time. In doing so, they will learn to navigate immigration and customs in an airport, exchange foreign currencies, hire a translator and interact with foreign executives.

“In the global marketplace, workers not only need business knowledge, they need the soft skills of cultural awareness and social negotiation,” said Bryan Warren, executive director of Crane House The Asia Institute. “One of the measures for success in the culminating program is the team’s ability to negotiate cultural differences and communication between different languages. In the real world, a misstep in introductions or misunderstanding of time issues can be costly. The simulation will give students real opportunities to experience the complex nature of international negotiations.”

Stephanie Clouser covers these beats: Distribution/logistics (UPS), manufacturing (GE), restaurants, retail, environment, K-12 education, arts and entertainment, small business, travel, minority/women’s affairs, Oldham County, Shelby County.

 

 

The Big Idea

Most entrepreneurs can picture the can, the label, even the celebrity who will be pitching their product. They want to know how to make their vision come to life—and be profitable!

The first phone call with a potential client is often times an animated event.  When someone calls with an idea for a beverage, they are genuinely excited.  This is something they have been formulating, crafting, perfecting in their mind.  Most entrepreneurs can picture the can, the label, even the celebrity who will be pitching their product, and they want to know how to make their vision come to life—and be profitable! 

“When someone calls the first time with an idea for a beverage, there’s a lot of energy behind their idea,” says Colleen Rice, Marketing Director.  “Sometimes it’s nervous energy, as if they’re afraid to ask the wrong questions or not sure where to start.  But most potential clients, new to the business, want to know the same basic information:  What does Flavorman do?  How do we do it?  How much does it cost?”

The initial call is all about gathering the right information in order to understand how Flavorman can provide solutions for that particular customer’s project.  We respect our callers’ right to the confidentiality of their ideas, so once we establish how we can be of service, we execute a mutual non-disclosure agreement.  That way, a client can feel confident talking openly about his/her vision for the project, and we can get further into the technical details of how to develop this particular beverage.

“Flavorman specializes in the technical side of developing a beverage.  This is the best advantage we can give our clients, especially those from backgrounds outside the food and beverage industry,” says Kate Ratliff, Technical Director.  In her eleven years with the company, she has been a part of countless client success stories, and she contributes that success to Flavorman’s attention to detail.

While making a beverage look and taste exactly the way a client envisions is important, it is only part of the story.  Is the product shelf stable, and for how long?  Will the color fade if exposed to light?  Is the nutrition label accurate?  Does the drink meet FDA regulations?  Can it be affordably mass produced? 

While these concerns are vital considerations to developing a beverage, they are not always top of mind to a potential customer who is busy with marketing plans, investor meetings or, in many cases, his/her day-job.  That is why Flavorman is critical to our clients’ success.  We take their big idea and bring it to life.

 “Beyond their creative artistry, the Flavorman team provided a service that is beyond servicing a customer; it is a friendship and partnership where they help you succeed through counsel and moral support. Flavorman is an invaluable asset,”  remarked Joe Heron of Fox Barrel Cider.  His company is now in production of its second successful beverage venture with Flavorman.

Big ideas have big potential.  So what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Click here to tell us about your BIG Idea!

Global Regulations: Why is FDA reluctant to define “natural”?

Flavorman has customers ask them all the time about using natural on their labels. This article addresses how the FDA is handling natural claims on food and beverage products.

“It was somewhat shocking to observe the issuance of an FDA warning letter earlier this year that addressed, among other violations, a company’s alleged improper use of the term natural. In that warning letter, issued on March 11, 2011, to Shemshad Food Products, FDA declared that use of the term natural in association with a food product that contained a synthetic chemical preservative was false and misleading. The shock does not stem from FDA’s position on the matter; the shocking part is that FDA addressed the use of the word natural at all—a topic that the agency has notoriously avoided over the last decade.

The real question raised by this warning letter is whether it signifies a movement in FDA’s inclination to address the topic of “natural” claims, especially in light of the ever-increasing number of such claims—or whether the issuance of this warning letter is just an isolated case. If FDA’s history of action—or more accurately, inaction—in this area is any indication, the answer is likely the latter.

Natural is not defined in the central body of laws, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, enforced by FDA. Furthermore, despite repeated requests from various organizations and entities, FDA has expressly declined to define natural in any regulation or formal policy statement. In 2002, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a public advocacy group that has been very aggressive in taking on companies making what it perceives to be improper “natural” claims, requested that FDA take action against Ben & Jerry’s—only to have FDA respond that “natural” was “not among the FDA’s current enforcement priorities….”

Click here to read the full article from Nutritional Outlook

Brain Toniq featured on BevNet

With beverages that claim to help to kick-start the day, ensure a good night’s sleep and perhaps even shave off a pound or two, it seems that a person can find any elixir for any ailment. Now, it might even be possible to down the contents of a can in order to become smarter. From the slightly gimmicky to the intensely scientific, a smattering of new cognitive beverage offerings aim to help everyone deal with today’s increased workload, family demands and 24/7 media blasts in an allegedly more calm and focused manner. Can these so-called “brain beverages” turn anyone into an instant PhD? Probably not, but they certainly want to help provide a bit of mental clarity and focus for all the average Joes who work the 9 to 5 – sorry, the 8 to 6 shifts.

“Our target is everyone, software engineers, technologists, academic professionals – many outside of the ‘geek’ world who need to increase their focus and mental ability,” explained Brett Lemker of Brain Toniq – a beverage that describes itself as “the clean and intelligent think drink.” And from what Lemker says, Brain Toniq is a drink to help the average American get through the day a little more effectively.

“We live in a time frame where an increasingly larger segment of the population needs to be intelligent workers,” Lemker said. People must “maximize focus, [and] come up with new ideas. [They’re] multitasking, analyzing, brainstorming.” He added that such activities “all require intense mental focus” and that the beverage “tries to cater to everyone.”

Similarly, ZUN founder and CEO Brian Stearns explained via email that, “the cognitive health segment of functional beverage has great potential to dominate shelf space.” He added the company hopes that the consumer will understand the premise: “if you energize the brain your body will follow.”

At 80 calories for a 8.4 oz. can, Brain Toniq is just a touch lighter than Red Bull, but it still holds 20 grams of sugar from Agave nectar. ZUN, on the other hand, seems more like a soda in its rocket-shaped 12 oz. bottle, but the beverage hopes to pack a mental punch with caffeine, taurine and coenzyme Q10, in addition to its 500 percent of the daily value of vitamin B12 and 100 percent daily value of Vitamins B6, E and C.

In contrast, Brain Toniq incorporates more exotic ingredients that it claims enhance brain function. Its list includes Siberian Ginseng, Rhodiola root powder, and DMAE, which, according to the company website, is a “is a natural-occurring substance” that facilitates the “production of acetylcholine, that crucial neurotransmitter responsible for carrying messages between brain cells.”

However, for a real dose of science to go with this potentially new afternoon pick-me-up, Dr. Rob Paul of Nawgan wants to take the consumer back to the lab. “Nawgan started as a science entity with an interest to bring science to the market,” Paul explained. With ingredients like acetylcholine, commonly found in Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and lycopene which may help reduce oxidative stress and reduce inflammation, the beverage almost needs an accompanying encyclopedia. However, Paul said that Nawgan’s composition is the result of careful scientific planning and the right kind of balance.

“The ingredients are selected at doses that hit a therapeutic window,” he explained, “one that reaches high enough levels with biological meaning, but not too high that there are potential side
effects of interactions with other medications or supplements.”

For the general public, this may be a little tough to swallow, so Nawgan has planned “fun and creative marketing campaigns” including what Paul describes as “playful” print ads and memory games and tests through the website. “The marketing needs to be strategically defined as not too medicinal,” he explained. “Our job is to take science that people may be less familiar with and apply it to marketing.”

While Lemker says Brain Toniq is waiting for growth before kicking off major marketing campaigns, and ZUN is building its name through “visibility and trial,” the Nawgan team seems to have the most calculated approach so far – hardly surprising since the company is helmed by a bunch of scientists. But while all three cognitive beverages have high hopes for their products, can it be too early to tell whether or not there is a market for brain boosters?

Paul doesn’t seem to think so, citing the aging population and baby-boomers as two groups that may be interested in enhancing their mental capabilities. “I think the category has a lot of age possibilities,” Paul said. “We have really focused on adult market.”

Other brain beverages on the market include a suite of SKUs from a variety of functional lines, including Neuro and vitaminwater. Other drinks that feature l-theanine have long been thought of as focus enhancers, although they are not sold with the idea that they will improve brain health over the long term. And the entire category took a shot in the early spring of 2009 when function: brainiac was featured in a story on ABC News 20/20. In a less-than-scientific comparison, the drink did not appear to enhance retention or cognition, although the story did not create a laboratory-worthy environment.

That may be why the rollout has been slow nationally. Currently, most brain-boosting brands only have distribution in very select U.S. markets. Nawgan is currently being distributed by Major Brands in St. Louis and Brainwave in Arizona. Brain Toniq is now being sold in Vitamin Shoppe stores and is being distributed by UNFI, Tree of Life, Natures Best, Altura Distributors, and Azure in Oregon, according to Lemker. He adds that the brand is looking to make its official launch at Expo West. Likewise, ZUN is sold in 13 states through Kum & Go and is experiencing local distribution by New Age Beverage out of Denver, Colorado. But it’s still early days for these companies and whether cognitive beverages can take off in a big way is another story entirely, peppered with plenty of “ifs.” As more competition emerges and pushes the category out of fad territory and into the mainstream, witness the growth of NERD, for example, in the South, perhaps we could be looking at a wiser, more productive America. Then again, the beverages might just be a better way to get a few extra vitamins and afternoon caffeine boost. Now that’s certainly something to wrap your head around. •

Editor’s Note: This article also ran in the March 2011 issue of Beverage Spectrum Magazine.

Click here for more information!

Click here to go to Brain Toniq’s website!

Flavorman keeps an eye on FTC decisions…

FTC has filed actions in six different federal courts against ten affiliate marketing operations for using fictitious news websites to market açaí berry weight-loss products. The agency is seeking to permanently stop these misleading practices and has asked courts to freeze the defendants’ assets trial.

The central charges brought by FTC are threefold. First, the agency alleges the defendant affiliate marketers made false and unsupported claims that açaí berry supplements will cause rapid and substantial weight loss. Second, FTC alleges the defendants have created fictitious news reports, other reports, and testimonials regarding the products to deceive consumers.  Third, the defendant affiliate marketers failed to disclose their financial relationships to the merchants sponsoring the products.

During a press conference held in Chicago, at the FTC’s Midwest Regional Office, Charles Harwood, deputy director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the basic characteristics of the marketing schemes. In the complaints, FTC alleges the defendant affiliate marketers created websites that are meant to appear as if they belong to legitimate news-gathering organizations, but in reality, the sites are advertisements aimed at deceptively enticing consumers to buy the featured açaí berry weight-loss products. The fake websites have titles such as “News 6 News Alerts,” “Health News Health Alerts,” or “Health 5 Beat Health News.”  The sites purport to provide objective investigative reports authored by reporters who tested the products on themselves and experienced dramatic and positive results, typically losing 25 pounds in four weeks.

In fact, the news reports are fake, and the reporters are fictitious. Adam Sokol, an assistant attorney aeneral with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, announced the State of Illinois has been working with FTC and is proceeding in a simultaneous lawsuit against an affiliate marketer in Illinois. Sokol disclosed that a picture used on the website of the defendant in the State of Illinois’ case to identify a news reporter is likely a female news reporter from France. The sites also include the names and logos of major media outlets such as ABC, Fox News, CBS, CNN, USA Today, and Consumer Reports, and falsely represent that the reports on the sites have been seen on those networks. Harwood expressed FTC’s concern that the references to major media outlets could potentially confer unwarranted credibility to the reports.

Steven Wernikoff, a staff attorney for FTC in Chicago, described the fundamentals of affiliate marketing. He described the “chain of deception” employed by the affiliate marketers and their actions as brokers to deceive potential consumers and direct traffic to merchant websites. The FTC alleges that the defendant affiliate marketers direct traffic to these websites by placing advertisements on high volume websites with headlines such as “Açaí Berry EXPOSED— Health Reporter Discovers the Shocking Truth.” Consumers would click on the headlines and be directed to the affiliates websites. Once consumers read the “breaking news”, they could click on products and be directed to merchants’ websites. The affiliate marketers would then get a commission for each referral.

In addition to the deceptive practices utilized to direct traffic to these sites, the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office alleges the weight-loss claims made with respect to the açaí berry products, most notably the claims of 25 pounds of weight-loss in four weeks, are not supported by reliable science. According to Wernikoff, an expert from Northwestern University found that açaí berries do not produce any weight-loss absent a change in diet and exercise.  FTC Harwood indicated that in 2010, the FTC brought a case against Central Coast Nutraceuticals for making similar weight-loss claims regarding açaí berry supplements.

The agency is asking for the courts to permanently bar the allegedly deceptive claims and to require the companies to provide money for refunds to consumers who purchased the supplements and other products. Harwood estimated consumers may have paid more than $10 million for products advertised on these websites. While FTC is currently unaware of any connection between the defendant affiliate marketers, more information may be forthcoming once the cases get underway and the discovery process begins.

In response to questions from media, Sokol stated these actions are “not an indictment of the açaí berry” and that FTC and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office are focused on the marketing techniques utilized and the specific weight-loss claims made for these products. “Almost everything about these sites is fake,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in the press release issued by FTC concerning these cases. “The weight loss results, the so-called investigations, the reporters, the consumer testimonials, and the attempt to portray an objective, journalistic endeavor.”

(For more information, you can see the FTC’s press release at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/04/fakenews.shtm).

Justin J. Prochnow is an attorney and Shareholder in the Denver office of the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP. His practice concentrates on legal issues affecting the food & beverage, dietary supplement and cosmetic industries. He can be reached at (303) 572-6562 or prochnowjj@gtlaw.com .

Click here to find out more

Just Pinch Myself

Sometimes I pinch myself wondering where has all of the time gone?  When I started Flavorman back in 1992 I didn’t really know how the company would grow or how we would reach success. For sure, I didn’t have any concept of what I thought success would look like when it was achieved.  Truthfully, I am not sure I know the answer of that even now.  Entrepreneurs always strive for success and realizing it is sometimes harder than the achievement itself.  What I do know is that I keep working like we service only one customer at a time when in reality we have hundreds.  Through this way of doing business we will certainly see success, won’t we?

I started the company with one employee working out of a condo in the Louisville suburbs.  I still remember sitting at a desk in a lawn chair thinking I was at the top of my game with a new company and a new job AND I was the boss.  The square footage of our “corporate headquarters” was less than 900 square feet and it seemed cavernous.  Our first customer made juice drinks on a national basis with an international presence for its products.  Now we create beverages for EVERY beverage category in a truly world class building in downtown Louisville and we are packing it to the roof.  How did we get here?  For certain, we created drinks that made other companies successful – is our success tied to that of our clients?  I think so.

Starting a  company is not easy and sometimes it is maddening.  I have once or twice thought about the day when I could work for someone else with less stress, more structure and about the same level of daily work.  I wouldn’t do it but I think about it because just the thought makes me work harder at what I do, that is, make other companies successful by developing superior new beverages.  In roughly the last twenty years I learned many things, some useful and some not so much.  What I know for sure is creating and developing new beverages is what I was born to do – success at doing so is just a benefit.  Then I pinch myself.

Flavorman Marlena Discusses Developing a Beverage

Marlena's mixing up some goodness

What gets your attention?

When it comes to picking out a beverage, what do you look for?  Is it the color, it is the smell, or is the taste?  Maybe it is none of the above.  Maybe you pick a beverage based on the cost alone.  There are several factors that go into play when it comes to selecting a beverage to purchase.  When developing a beverage, all of these factors have to be considered.  You can have the greatest tasting beverage in the world, but if it looks like raw sewage, odds are it will not be very popular.  It is our job as product development specialists to ensure that we create an optically appealing beverage as well as a great tasting one.

There are numerous items that can have a negative effect on a beverage.  Vitamin E for example, can cause a beverage to look cloudy and have a scummy film at the top.  Clouding agents can fall out of the product and look like a white sand at the bottom of the product as well as cause a filming ring around the top of the product.  Beta Carotene, which is often used to color beverages a bright orange or yellow color, can also ring out at the top of the beverage and/or fall to the bottom.  This can leave your product with a very unappealing appearance that is anything but desirable.

If you are looking to develop a beverage, keep this in mind, if your product is not visually appealing enough to be purchased, taste means nothing.  In short, knowledge of ingredients and experience in dealing with those ingredients can make or break a product.  At Flavorman, we can develop a product that is not only visually attractive but also great tasting.  We succeed when you succeed, so there is nothing but the best when it comes to your product from Start Through Finish®!

Matt’s Memoirs: Chapter 4 aka Matt explains Flavorman’s process

Matt and the Beverage Architects hard at work

Developing a drink is not as easy as:

Step 1: Think up an idea for a likeable beverage

Step 2: Put some ingredients in a bowl

Step 3: Mix

Step 4: Bottle/Can

Step 5: Market and Sell

When a beverage is thought up, first someone has to find a company like Flavorman to help with the production of the product. A client consults with Flavorman with some possibilities and choices that could be made before actual laboratory work is done, for example vitamins to be added or sugar free sweetener.

Once laboratory work begins, a beverage specialist works on a formulation that takes the clients wants and needs into consideration and produces a prototype for the client to taste. When producing a prototype taking the function first into consideration is important. Once the function is taken into consideration the next component to consider is our favorite, flavor.

When I think about children’s cough syrup it brings back vivid memories of the nasty taste of what I was told was supposed to taste like “grape” or even the dreaded “cherry.” If a product works correctly but does not appeal to the consumer then it will be hard to sell more than once. Step 2 is simply stated as “Put some ingredients in a bowl” but in reality is a deep and in-depth process that takes specialists hard work and innovation to create a product the client and ultimately the consumer will enjoy.

Once a prototype is formulated by a Flavorman and the client approves the prototype they then go on to a production plant and have that plant produce the beverage and market the product. What’s unique about Flavorman is that customers can add line extensions, like different flavors or calorie levels at no cost. Flavorman can help their customers develop a product line that is functional and great tasting.

So next time you take a drink of anything think for a second about all the time and effort that went in to producing the beverage you are about to enjoy.

What Our Kids Have Been Sipping On This Year

Flavorman Cory testing Flavors

Here at Flavorman we’ve formulated a lot of kid’s drinks over the years, and after reading an article in Beverage Industry magazine about trends in kids’ drinks I thought I would talk to my own kids about drinks at their school lunches. According to “What are kids drinking at school?” the big dogs in the beverage industry have reduced the calories in the beverages being sold in U.S. schools by 88 percent over the last six years. Other beverage companies worked with schools this year to offer them lower calorie and smaller portioned beverages. I asked my kids, 8 and 15 about the beverages offered at their respective schools. My daughter, Corrin, can choose from bottled water, milk, or a juice drink at lunch. At my son Matthew’s lunch the school has sports drinks, flavored waters, teas and a hand full of diet sodas. According to a back to school survey done earlier this year, parents said they were less likely to pack cokes in their kids lunches compared to last year. The survey also found that a larger number of consumers found themselves packing bottled water in their kid’s lunches much more than they did last year. Now that I think about it my daughter started asking for bottled water this year because her friends were. I was pleased because who doesn’t want their kids to drink more water. The last group said they’ve been sending their kids with juice more this year. My wife sends our daughter to school with juice a couple days a week. If it’s my turn to pack her lunch, I usually throw in some or a miniature bottle water. (Not to mention a handwritten note that will embarrass her later)

This article brought back some fond memories of my school lunches. I can remember sitting in the lunch room and pulling out a once-cold-and-delicious but now warm and partially leaking juice box and using it to help me choke down the dried up tater tots and peanut butter balls. I even started to miss the bright-orange-haired lunch lady after reading through these articles. Those were the days!! One big change from my childhood is the increase in the additives in kid’s drinks. The survey found that more parents are looking for kid’s beverages that include vitamins, antioxidants, probitotics and fiber. Interestingly more moms are packing plain milk rather than flavored milk this year. This is a far cry from the Strawberry Quick my mom would send with me. That stuff was the bomb!! Sadly the survey also points out that 39% of the consumers surveyed said they compromise nutritional value in order to save money. I’m probably guilty of this myself. If Freddy’s fruit punch is on sale right next to the Capri Suns, I’m going to pick the cheaper more sugary stuff. This backs up the stats that a lot of consumers bought those kids drinks that were on sale or the store brand compared to their kids favorite brand to send to lunch this year. So the push for more nutritious kids’ drinks is definitely here and we at Flavorman have a long history in their development. In my next Flog I will be talking more about the development of kids’ drinks.

Click here to read more about trends in kids drinks…

Visitors – Please Come!

Come see our Guest "Sweet" and the rest of our building!

When we purchased our building that dates to the 1800s, we were thrilled with the renovation of this fabulous old warehouse facility.  We had no idea that three years from the date of our Grand Opening, Louisville would be hit by a flash flood that would leave a couple feet of water and destruction throughout our 24,000 SF facility.

After the shock, we renovated – again.  This time, we seized the opportunity to create a building full of displays that showcase the range of products and packaging that we have created for our clients over the years.

Prospects, clients, vendors and all variety of visitors are typically most surprised and excited to walk through our displays, very large beverage lab, blending operation, retain room, full apartment for our guests, and this outstanding facility designed for a single purpose:  Help our clients create drinks from start through finish.

If you want to really understand our step-by-step approach, refined over nearly 20 years, there’s nothing to match a tour of our facility and meeting our team.  You won’t be disappointed.

Experience Flavorman – come visit!