FiE 2024: Natural vanillin fills gaps for clean label flavor amid vanilla bean instability
17 Dec 2024 | Syensqo
Vanillin is a potent ingredient to mask off-notes or bitterness in nutritional foods or improve the flavor of baked goods. However, it can only address a small portion of the world’s demand for vanilla flavor. Maud Joassard, marketing manager at Syensqo, shares how vanillin from rice bran oil can respond to consumer desire for clean label products while addressing vanilla beans’ market volatility.
This is Missy Green with Foo Ingredients First.
I'm here with Maj Vassar, who's the marketing manager at Science Co.
Welcome, Maud.
Hello.
So, vanilla prices were historically high, but in the last few years they dropped, and despite a bad year, there's still an oversupply in the market.
How have these price fluctuations affected vanillin business?
In fact, just Science is a leading producer of vanillin, ethyl vanillin, and EU natural vanilin.
And vanillin is connected to the vanilla bean because it's the signature molecule of vanilla taste we all know and love as a consumer, and it can naturally occur in cured vanilla beans, but it's only representing 1-2% of the dry matter.
So a science coauthor is really a complement to the vanillin from vanilla beans that can naturally reply to the.
All FB Vanilin needs, it can only reply to a small portion of these needs.
So again, there is room for a set of vanillin solutions, and what is important to keep in mind is that the Vanilev in business is an unregulated market.
So based on that, there are several related challenges that can come for the industry.
Indeed, there are fluctuating policies in terms of price, in terms of.
Availability that can be indeed challenges for the industry and there is also the quality variation that can come in a way it's the beauty of nature, but it's also increased by the climate change impact and that grabs additional challenges for the industry.
So again, that's why there is a need for alternative solutions in terms of vanillin.
So have you seen more or less demand based on, I know vanilla is generally very volatile.
Have you seen any movements in the market based on how vanilla goes?
In fact, there is indeed a need for alternative of vanillin, and we can see that demand evolve, and I think it's mainly driven by the consumer preferences for more vanillin offers, including natural vanilin in terms of labeling also that can be highlighted on the packaging.
What kind of formulation advantages does Vanolin offer?
In fact, I would say that vanillin is a kind of super ingredient.
It's a pure versatile ingredient that have a lot of technical benefits beyond its flavor opportunity.
Of course we can name here the masking of notes like astringency, bitterness that can come from plant-based high protein content.
Like in nutritional food, there is also the boosting of sweetness of the mouthfeel that can be an opportunity, especially for instance in sugar reduced recipes, and again a lot of other additional tests and technical features that vanillin can bring.
That's why vanillin for all these reasons.
Is really an interesting and key ingredient that all food developers should, should have on their shelves.
And what makes natural vanolin natural?
Are there any notable differences in the quality of ingredients, or is it from a purely from a labeling perspective that you want to have that natural?
Indeed, in fact, vanilin is a pure molecule, so vanilin, whatever its source is vanilin.
After indeed when we come to natural vanilin in the world, it's all about regulation.
So if we start with the stringent regulation.
European Flavoring Substance Regulation EC 1334 2008, it clearly stated that to be natural vanilin must strictly met and cumulative free criteria.
So the first one is that the flavoring substance needs to be found naturally in nature.
Second, the raw material is natural, and the process.
Third, has to be traditional, natural according to the regulations.
So there is really a strong regulatory framework that needs to be taken into account for the labeling.
And as I said, the European regulation is really the stringent one.
If we compare with a very important market for natural, the, the regulation there stated that there are only two criteria that must be met.
Raw material is natural and the process is natural.
That's why again it's important to have this regulator.
Framework in mind to make the right choices and I would say that there is a kind of growing standard to use the EU natural vanilin to be able to have a larger scope of use both in Europe but also in the US that can also help the players to have with a single solution, a larger scope.
And maybe also simplify, optimize their portfolio to tackle several countries' regional scope at the same time.
