Food-X start-up focus: Paragon Pure eyes opportunities in label-friendly flavor carriers

14 May 2019 --- Consumers are frequently rejecting chemically modified starch, maltodextrin and polyols ingredients, either because of health concerns, the less than natural perceptions or unfamiliarity. New Jersey-based Paragon Pure is stepping into this space and developing powdered flavors using consumer preferred ingredients such as organic rice flour with neither a dramatic increase in cost nor loss in application performance.

Earlier this month, food innovation accelerator Food-X unveiled the start-up roster for its latest cohort: Cohort 9. Among the eight companies was Paragon Pure which provides “natural and authentic” powdered flavors captured within a clean-label wholegrain carrier.

Co-Founders Matthew Sillick and Chris Gregson were colleagues at two major food ingredient companies before starting Paragon Pure. Today, the company is seeking to bring its entrepreneurial spirit to open innovation partnerships. 

Founded in 2014 and based in New York, US, Food-X empowers early stage food-tech companies across the supply chain. This includes agri-tech through direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, to bring their products and services to market at speed. Food-X is powered by SOSV, a global venture capital fund with US$525 million in assets under management.

Co-Founders Chris Gregson (left) and Matthew Sillick (right)Food-X’s mission is to scale change throughout the food system by investing in early-stage entrepreneurs who aim to solve the most significant global food challenges: health and wellness, sustainability, food safety, traceability, supply chain efficiency, transparency and more. 

“Food-X accelerator has helped us to rapidly launch our company by connecting us to people who could fill knowledge and skill gaps, as well as providing mentorship, exposure and an entrepreneurial environment in which to develop our business,” says Sillick. 

“Having been in the active delivery and food ingredient industries for the past 15 years, we have seen the rise in demand for more natural ingredients first hand,” Gregson explains to FoodIngredientsFirst. “Most of the focus of our careers has been the development of clean label, high-performance food ingredients.”

Rising to the challenge?
The company is initially focusing on North American markets where there is a rapidly expanding natural food products market. “In many categories, clean label is becoming a requirement,” Sillick adds. “We also have the capability of providing the point of differentiation product managers are looking for.”

Consumers are demanding packaged food products made with recognizable kitchen cupboard ingredients. Consumers are unwilling to compromise taste and convenience but will pay a premium, he notes. 

The food industry is responding by creating ingredients and food products which meet these demands and a great deal of progress has been made. However, in some cases, technical barriers exist preventing further progress without jeopardizing food quality. Powdered flavors made using a consumer preferred carrier is one such technical barrier that Paragon Pure has removed. 

Perfecting the technology
“We are in the pilot phase of development, perfecting our technology and readying ourselves for commercial scale production. We have been working with many potential customers and have received a tremendous amount of interest in applications ranging from snacks and confectionery applications, to dry beverage and cake mixes,” Gregson says.

In many cases, the flavor carrier is the most controversial component of the product and companies are excited to hear about ingredients that enable the development of more natural foods, according to Sillick. 

“We have developed a scalable, cost-effective technology that allows flavors and other actives, to be delivered using consumer-friendly carriers. Our current focus is on natural flavors, extracts and essences. However, this technology has the potential to offer similar benefits for other components such as natural colors and nutritional oils,” he explains. 

“We see a significant demand for transparency,” Sillick comments. “Consumers want brands they can trust.” Companies need to ensure that their product lives up to their brand promise through the use of consumer-preferred ingredients such as organic rice flour, he muses. 

Paragon Pure is continuously expanding the breadth of our flavor offerings, Gregson notes. “One of the products we developed was a sweet vanilla mint powder which provides a refreshing, rounded flavor profile and enhanced stability in breath mints. A similar product worked exceptionally well in an organic peppermint hot chocolate concept.”

Moreover, to meet the needs of current trends in tortilla chips, the company has created a powdered lime flavor which provides a fresh citrus zing, at the same time as high oxidative stability and handling benefits in production. 

There is a tremendous amount of activity within the flavor industry to deliver consumers natural alternatives to artificial flavors, Gregson claims. “This trend began more than two decades ago but is accelerating. As evidence for this, all of the major flavor houses have acquired companies over the past two years which expand their natural offerings. There is a growing emphasis on providing natural extracts, fruit powders, and organic flavors.”

The development of truly clean label carriers has been lagging despite the concern over consumer perception of maltodextrin, chemically modified starches and gums, he says. “This is because of the incorrect perception that there are no alternatives that provide the same performance in application,” Gregson states. 

Challenges the company has faced include choosing a preferred manufacturing partner, establishing a stable IP position and creating a brand which communicates the value it brings to the market, notes Gregson. 

“We have overcome these challenges by linking with established professionals and organizations via leveraging the Food-X community and our networks,” he continues. “We are significantly stronger as a company as a result of being part of the Food-X program and are well on our way to becoming an industry leader in ultra-clean label flavor powders.”

By Elizabeth Green