By Cassie Marshall -Senior Product Development Specialist
Consumers demand functionality.
Go to any convenience store, grocery store or Whole Foods, and you will find a vast selection of beverages with bold labels boasting the beneficial ingredients of the libation inside. Exotic herbs, alluring extracts, avant garde vitamin blends and plant-derived sweeteners all promise to enhance the attractive function(s) of the drink. But do they? How do we know what these ingredients do? And where do beverage developers like Flavorman find them?
There are many companies that specialize in ingredients for food and beverage applications. The variety of elemental components for beverage products is astounding, and science is yielding new discoveries and introducing new data all the time. So how does a beverage entrepreneur sift through it all?
Leave that to the experts.
In February 2012, Flavorman launched the FunctionFirst Program, a division dedicated to researching the newest products on the market in order to provide our clients with the best ingredient solutions in the business. The FunctionFirst Program allows ingredient vendors to submit their products for our evaluation. Products range from sweeteners, to antioxidants, to wellness blends, to herbs and extracts. These products are set up in a variety of applications to ensure that we cover the gamut of beverages clients may wish to produce – carbonated beverages, juices and flavored waters, to name a few.
Once the evaluations are complete, we enter the results into our FunctionFirst Database. Flavorman’s Beverage Architects will be able to access this performance data and understand how these ingredients will best complement the beverages we are helping our clients create. The ability to stay on the cutting-edge of ingredient and beverage technology allows Flavorman to inform and educate our clients about the latest trends and most innovative products on the market.
The FunctionFirst Team establishes a symbiotic relationship between Flavorman and our ingredient vendors for the benefit of our clients. With the information gained from our research we are able to provide our clients with expert knowledge throughout the beverage development process. The FunctionFirst Program is just another reason why we here at Flavorman say that we are the best in the business from start through finish.
