Synergy Flavors: New Year, New Flavors

Synergy Flavors identifies three trending food, beverage flavors for 2018

A new year calls for change. And more than ever before, consumers are looking to push their palettes and they are trying flavors with unique flavor profiles and creation methods.

Synergy Flavors, a leading supplier of flavors, extracts and essences for the global food and beverage industry, can offer a view on the hot new flavors of 2018, based on the company’s expertise and knowledge of the industry, which include:

Burnt Caramel: According to Mintel, Millennials are interested in different profiles, ethnic infusions and the inferred flavors that are imparted by using specific preparation techniques like caramelization, burning or browning.

A burnt caramel flavor pairs the sweet, milky notes of the caramel with the deep and slightly smoky characteristics of burning the caramel. This flavor creation process allows consumers to distinguish the burnt and caramel flavors while enjoying one finished product that combines the best of both. Blood Orange:

Blood orange appeals to consumers by tapping into their growing demand for naturally grown and better-for-you ingredients. Besides the provocative and enticing name, consumers also enjoy how juicy and flavorful blood orange is as compared to the more common Valencia orange flavor.

Elderflower: Floral flavor use in food and beverage applications has grown 88% during the past year, as reported by Mintel. One of these increasingly popular floral flavors is elderflower. Unlike some other floral flavors that can be overwhelming, elderflower’s sweet, subtle profile allows consumers to enjoy it as a standalone flavor. Synergy expects to see increased demand for elderflower flavoring, especially in baked goods and other sweets.

“In the past, we’ve seen these flavors used as toppings for desserts or as part of a combination of ingredients in liqueurs, but we believe 2018 will be the year that these flavors will be seen widely on restaurant menus, on grocery store shelves and at cocktail bars as standalone flavors,” says Greg Kaminski, executive research chef at Synergy Flavors. “2018 will be an exciting year for exploring new and different flavors in a vast array of food and beverage applications, driven by consumer demand and continued effort on the part of industry food scientists, artisans and manufacturers to strive for new and creative options.”

Learn more at www.synergytaste.com.