Quest launch snack range based on 3D approach

Believing that flavour creativity in Snacks revolves more and more around how to optimally stimulate all senses Quest has conducted extensive market research to identify new lifestyle trends that are inspiring imaginative and entirely new snacks flavours.

09/08/06 Anticipating further growth and diversification in European Snacks, flavour manufacturer, Quest, has launched a comprehensive three-part service to develop new concepts and flavours in the market and to reflect their insight into new lifestyle trends in snacking.

Believing that flavour creativity in Snacks revolves more and more around how to optimally stimulate all senses – sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing – Quest has conducted extensive market research to identify new lifestyle trends that are inspiring imaginative and entirely new snacks flavours.

The lifestyle trends that have been identified by Quest include: Well-being, Pleasure, Fusion, Comfort and Back-to-basics.

Under the slogan “Snacking inspired by life”, Quest is now marketing its diverse range of capabilities and concepts in snack flavours across Europe. The initial theme focus will be on the rapidly growing demands for snacks with a culinary influence. In a collection called `Snacks à la carte’, these flavours vary from the South African Chakalaka flavour, based on a dish of cooked vegetables combined with sweet and sour spices, to the Asian Bobotie, a lightly curried, braised mince of lamb with fresh apricot, or Thom Yam Kung, based on a Thai soup of spiced and sour shrimp with coconut milk.

Quest says its Snacks offer now rests more strongly than ever on its unique, truly three-dimensional foundation of expertise: this is the combination of market insight with highly creative flavour creation and unrivalled application knowledge, especially in the areas of concept development and truly novel process technologies, such as marination and double-coating. As part of this ‘3-D’ approach, Quest offers a comprehensive support and consultancy service, with elements including customer innovation days, flavour language training and pilot plant facilities, making use of the modern creative centre in Naarden, the Netherlands.

Jolanda van Haarlem, Marketing & Sales Director Savoury Flavours, explains: “Our work has demonstrated many fast-moving trends in the European snacking market that are linked directly to people’s lifestyles and meal preferences.

“We’ve been able to call on Quest’s dual expertise in both flavour and fragrance to develop an all-inclusive sensory approach to matching these very diverse consumer needs – and being able to anticipate them too. It’s not just the old story of focusing on flavour and aroma – snacks appeal to people in far more ways than this, depending who they are and where they are. That’s why all senses need to be considered in developing a particular new product or line extension.”

“We are dealing with a complex sensory eating experience, in which consumers make choices and take pleasure according to a total ‘food impression’. It’s important that we work closely with customers at the concept development and market interpretation stages to plan this impression. In such a fast-moving market, the definition of what is a snack is expanding rapidly and excitingly into some really unusual flavour combinations. We are finding that our application capabilities and market understanding are just as valued as the flavour creation itself”, van Haarlem adds.

“We’ve worked in this market a long time, but the next few years hold unprecedented variety and challenge: we wanted to make sure our best practice approach was formalised into a service that could really support customers in keeping up with the sheer volume of change and innovation required”, she noted.