Quest Make Sense of Berry Flavours

28/11/06 Quest international, which was acquired by Givaudan last week, is launching a new range of berry fruit flavours in Europe and the Middle East – thanks to the discovery of new flavour components that precisely replicate the flavours of real fruit at various stages of ripeness.

Targeted at the Dairy and Beverage markets – and with primary applications in yoghurt and the rapidly growing dairy drinks sectors – the Berrysense range draws on an extraordinarily wide package of the latest technology of Quest and is the product of two years of research and development.

The result is a range of flavours that can, extremely authentically, reflect the subtlety of fruit taste a consumer requires as well as the exact stage of fruit ripeness, adding to Quest’s overall consumer understanding and flavour prediction strength.

Quest has based the Berrysense development on its established Qsense innovation platform, where combined technologies contribute to the whole flavour effect in a three-part model. The top layer of the Qsense triangle brings vibrancy and realness to the flavour, delivered by Quest’s Freezeframe technology. The centre of the triangle is the heart of the flavour, where it is brought to life by bio-precursor technology, fundamental in delivering complexity, body and mouthfeel.

Based on Quest’s patented knowledge of breakdown pathways in plants and fruits, bio pathways can be enhanced or speeded up to generate precise and absolutely authentic flavour blocks, tailor-made to customer requirements.

The base of the flavour triangle represents performance, where technologies such as ImpaQ Taste Technology add deliciousness and mouthfeel to the product.

Flavourist Esther van Ommeren explains: “By understanding what contributes to the complexity of flavour components in berries, more complex aroma-and-flavour- generated experiences result. Berrysense is the product of an exciting scientific breakthrough, coupled with an extraordinary combination of all our flavour innovations of the last two years, including Freezeframe Biocaptive technology, which preserves first bite freshness, and ImpaQ Taste Technology. It’s the first time we have applied so many flavour innovations to a single product development and we’re excited about how customers will react.”

This package of the latest technology has been applied to Quest’s entire berry collection, both adding new flavours and upgrading the existing ones to be even more authentic to nature. The new Berrysense range of flavours comprises strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, cranberry, blackberry, gooseberry, blueberry and mixed berries.

In Dairy applications, the extra major customer and consumer benefit is guaranteed on-shelf stability of flavour. Senior product manager, Ernst van den Berg, explains: “This is a breakthrough that is unique to Quest – the ability to guarantee that a yoghurt will retain its original flavour right through its shelf life and not develop any off-notes as it ages, right to the sell-by date. This assures consumers a top quality eating experience and brand owners can feel confident that their product will always deliver its taste promise and not sacrifice any brand loyalty in this regard.”

Berrysense can also be applied to Beverages, spanning alcoholic and non-alcoholic, again delivering authentic fruit tastes that are more controllable and authentic to nature, thanks to Quest’s technical know-how.

The range is launched in Europe and the Middle East this month and a global launch is planned for early 2007. The team expect most initial interest to come from dairy manufacturers in Germany, France, Benelux and the UK. More than 40% of all new yoghurt products globally are berry flavoured, with the most popular being strawberry.