Bartek eyes better functionality and improved taste profiles with tech for “better-rounded flavor”

25 Jul 2023 --- Bartek Ingredients showcased its Uplift Taste Modification Technology at the IFT FIRST trade show in Chicago last week. The latest innovation is designed to improve sour flavor profiles, manage acidity levels and unlock better formulation functionality in gummies and soft drinks. 

Food Ingredients First spoke to Mohammad Emami, director of marketing and business development at Bartek, who believes that functional constraints have historically prevented brands from expanding their product lines. 

“With Uplift, we are bringing the taste experience to a new level. It allows brands to design products with impactful and unique sensory profiles.”

The beverage experience
For beverages specifically, Bartek’s ingredient is said to enhance the flavor experience. 

“These technologies are buffer-based and have functional attributes that manage the pH of the confectionery while also contributing to the flavor,” Emami explains.

The technology makes beverage flavors “more bright” and the sour taste “pop,” according to Bartek.

Uplift “smooths out” some of the off-notes that actives can cause in supplement gummies.Looking beyond citric acid
The prevalence of citric acid and sodium citrate in the F&B industry prompted Bartek to look beyond these buffers. 

Emami urges formulators to “look into other assessments and buffer systems” like sodium and potassium malate. Sodium malate is a sodium salt of malic acid (E296), a natural acid present in fruit and is used as a buffer and flavoring in soft drinks and confectionery, for instance.

“We’re set on bringing a more premium product into the market,” he notes. “Consumers are moving away from simple flavors and are often seeking something more complex. And this is what our solutions provide to the industry. It’s not all about the cost, but indeed that is a factor.”

Regarding how these products cost compared to citric acid, Emami adds: “Pricing depends on the volume, but we can say that it is comparable.” 

No unpleasant aftertaste 
The ingredients are designed to “elevate” existing flavors in beverage and confectionery items. 

They create a “juicy and authentic” fruit flavor profile while controlling sour onset, linger and peak.

“Natural or artificial sweeteners sometimes come with an aftertaste that might linger. Our systems can match the sour linger with the sweetness, making the aftertaste less prominent,” continues Emami. They help the formulators develop “better-rounded flavor” products, he notes.

Bartek and Victus Ars, a boutique food development lab and educational platform for food formulators, have partnered to unlock Uplift’s full potential. 

According to Michelle Frame, president of Victus Ars and the Institute of Confectionery Excellence, Uplift “smooths out” some of the off-notes that actives can cause in supplement gummies.

At IFT FIRST, Bartek also showcased its Pecmate Pectin Enhancer, an ingredient that simplifies formulation and production for pectin-based gummy products, and EasyAcid Malic Solution, a liquid malic acid ingredient.

By Insha Naureen, with additional reporting by Missy Green