Sensient In the News

April 2015

Apr 27, 2015 Sensient Flavors

We've said it before and we’ll say it again: Consumers view products they purchase as an expression of who they are and what they stand for. Enter the lifestyle brand. This type of brand, defined as a brand that attempts to embody the values, interests, attitudes and pastimes of a group or a culture, offers consumers a means of self-expression through their products.

With today’s increasingly connected world, staying detached from life outside of product offerings is no longer the safe bet it once was; - as 73% of Millennials believe that businesses should share a point of view about issues according to MSLGroup. With the amount of branded content that consumers are faced with on a daily basis,Trendwatching.com suggests that in today’s landscape, staying neutral can mean a slow drift into obscurity.

With the rise of social media providing an additional platform for showing off or simply amplifying a stylized version of today’s consumer, the lifestyle brand offers consumers a way to reinforce or supplement their identity by publicly associating themselves with a brand. The symbolic value of a product is determined by more than the functionality of a product. It is driven by the type of benefit the product provides and the actions and convictions of the brand behind the product. Athletic wear is a great example of this phenomenon. Take for instance a well-known yoga apparel company, cultivating a lifestyle brand by offering yoga classes, utilizing sustainable & fair manufacturing processes, promoting a diet that contributes to its ambition of living a healthy life, and supporting an online platform for their consumer community and its interests. The result is a fiercely loyal shopper base who sees themselves -- or who they aspire to be -- in a brand’s messaging.

    The good news for companies in the food industry is that they’re particularly well positioned to develop into lifestyle brands. Here’s why:

  • So goes the old adage “We are what we eat”. Food is so much more than fuel. At Sensient, we understand that food choices make a statement. Ahead-of-the-trend flavors, indulgent inclusions, stealth sugar reduction, organic meat flavors -- they all carry meaning. Understanding the type of consumer who makes these choices and the type of lifestyle or worldview they are cultivating will help your brand take a stand outside of the product offering.
  • Food brings people together: When it comes to lifestyle branding, sharing and community is key. This behavior is fundamental to our food culture. When you give consumers a talking point about your product, our culture is hardwired to discuss it while sharing food and will be your brand’s best promotional tool.
  • Food is aspirational: Lifestyle brands thrive on aspirational shoppers (“Eating this nutrition bar supports my active lifestyle!” or “I love to exploring cultures through their exotic flavors!”). So whether it’s an increased nutrient profile or indulging the explorer, brands that speak to consumers’ life outside of food will find favor in the marketplace.

Tags: flavors, sensient flavors,

While the top mainstream flavors—orange and lemon-lime—continue to dominate the beverage market from year to year, there are cultural and consumer trends right now influencing beverage development and giving rise to new, innovative flavors. For instance, there is a large and growing multicultural population in the U.S. and flavors that cater to this multicultural consumer market are gaining popularity.

Tags: beverages, sensient flavors, trendspotting,

Looking for fun flavor ideas? The savory snacks category is ripe with innovation and a great breeding ground for flavor ideas.

Tags: chili blends, savory, sensient flavors, sensient natural ingredients,

Apr 05, 2015 Sensient Flavors

Drink to Emotional Wellbeing

Food&Drink Technology

Health and wellness benefits are no longer simply a matter of physical nourishment; the emotional influence of foods and drinks is also an important consideration. Sensient Flavors is enabling its customers to capitalise on this trend with its new beverage concepts, which help manufacturers create "emotional drinks."

Tags: beverages, health & wellness, sensient flavors, trendspotting,

Apr 02, 2015 Sensient Flavors

It’s official: your cup of joe has had a serious makeover over the past decade. Traditional drip-brewed hot coffee has been upstaged by lattes, macchiatos, tea & coffee blends, espresso shots, and more. Even iced coffee aficionados are increasingly trading their beloved coffee format for a style that offers an updated taste experience: cold brewed coffee.

Not to be confused with iced coffee (which is essentially hot coffee served over ice), cold brew coffee is a product all its own. Coffee grounds, instead of brewed up hot, are steeped in room-temperature water for as much as a whole day to produce a concentrated mixture. That mixture is then diluted with water, usually by about half, and served chilled. The result? A low-acidity, sweeter, more complex tasting coffee that’s perfect for summertime.

This approach to coffee preparation may remind some people of the traditional “southern style” tea brewing – where tea leaves are steeped in the sun all day to deliver a slower infusion. This also helps avoid over steeping which can add bitter off notes to both tea and coffee.

    Why it’s cool:

  • Consumers are loving this period of craft food innovation that emphasizes processing techniques as well as sourcing which is perfect for coffee.
  • Consumers, especially the younger generations, looking for an energy boost in the afternoon prefer cold drinks to hot.
  • In-the-know baristas maintain that cold brews bring out flavors in ways traditional brewing can’t.
  • Conveniently, and often stylishly packaged, cold brews are great for grabbing on the go.
  • Alternatively, you can make up a huge batch of the concentrated coffee for travel at home (think camping, road trips), and dilute it down as needed to enjoy for days.

Here at Sensient, we love a good DIY:

Take about 180 g of coarsely ground coffee, and immerse it in about a liter of water. Cover at room temperature or throw it in the fridge for 16 hours, agitating it every few hours. Then filter, filter, filter until all the coffee grinds are removed from the concentrate. Dilute it down to 50 percent, and enjoy!

Tags: flavors, sensient flavors,

Sensient Flavors has developed new beverage concepts that respond to the rising demand for products that influence and balance our emotional state in a gentle, natural way. Health and wellness benefits are no longer simply a matter of physical nourishment; the emotional influence of foods and drinks is also an important consideration. With that in mind, these new products support manufacturers as they strive to create successful "emotion drinks."

Tags: health & wellness, sensient flavors, trendspotting,

Hace unos días, en una famosa exposición, me tocó dar una breve charla sobre innovación. De ahí surgen algunos conceptos que no está de más conversar y revisar, pues si bien son conceptos conocidos y manejados, es necesario volver a ellos para mantenerlos en la mente.

Tags: innovación, sensient colors,