Kerry: Sodium reduction expert reveals key strategies for better snack flavor
09 Apr 2026 | Kerry
Hugo Leclercq, senior global portfolio director for Taste Fermentation and Sodium Reduction at Kerry, discusses the salt reduction challenge in snacks, highlighting how salt’s multi-functional role in flavor, bitterness suppression, and upfront saltiness complicates sodium reduction. Leclercq explains how companies can maintain taste without bitterness by using natural flavorings and fermentation to enhance umami and kokumi for better consumer acceptance of snacks like chips.
This is Inha Noin, journalist at Food Ingredients first.
Salt reduction remains one of snack industry's toughest balancing acts as health pressures collide with consumer expectations on taste.
To discuss.
What's really holding progress back and how manufacturers can address this challenge.
Today we are speaking with Hugo Lecre, senior Global Portfolio Director for taste fermentation and sodium reduction at Kerry.
Welcome, Hugo.
Thank you, Isa.
Hi, everyone.
Great to have you with us today.
So, my first question is, the industry has talked about sodium reduction for years, yet many snacks remain high in salt.
So what do you think has actually been holding back manufacturers?
Thank you for the question.
So there are multiple aspects related to salt.
The first one is salt is multifunctional, so it delivers flavor impact, suppresses bitterness, and hence aroma release drives upfront saltiness, which is really what consumers would expect to have.
So reducing salt will bring back a lot of different challenges, multiple taste pathways simultaneously on its own.
The second factor is consumers rejecting for your taste.
So there is a really heavy challenge to really keep the same, you know, overall taste liking, because again, as soon as you will reduce the salt content, there is a risk for the snacks to be really flat, to be a lack of, let's say, experience for the end consumers, and, and that will head to, let's say, avoid, you know, the repeat purchase, from a consumer standpoint.
The third factors will be all related to formulators.
These formulators can be under risk.
They can have some fear about risk management because the snacks category is tightly optimized.
There is high volume purchase categories behind.
So if there is any mistake you done over the formulation, lack of taste, acceptance, then there will be a full, let's say, declining in terms of performance for the purchase on its own.
And then.
The last factor in charge would be, let's say so far there is no, there was not like silver bullet technology.
It means that the legacy technology is not bringing the right efficiency in terms of salt modulation, salt efficiency, because again the traditional potassium chloride usage or historical ingredients can bring bitterness, metallic off notes, and are not delivering the right salt experience expected by the hand consumers.
OK, interesting.
And how are global sodium reduction targets and front of pack labeling shaping snack reformulation strategies?
So there is a big pressure and a big shift, you know, from a market standpoint as per of now.
So the governments are even switching from, let's say, voluntary to mandatory reduction targets.
If you, if you, if you look at the global landscape, all the things are more, let's say, locally driven as per of UK with a non-NHFS compliance with the Nutri score as per of some of the countries in Europe.
Also, as per of let's say Colombia or Mexico, you know with the octagon, Colombia with also salt tax, so it's really increasing the level of emergency.
So it means that there is really a global shift from global to let's say regional activation in terms of salt reduction journey.
The front of pack, as I was mentioning, is even more important on a.
Today very much visible and the positioning of the snacks also categories, if you have like a high salt will be on the bottom of the rack, you know, less visible from a consumer standpoint in the UK as.
So again there is a lot of activation, a lot of shift from global to regional activation, so bringing again this high level of emergency in terms of snacks reformulation around salt content.
So, Hugo, what are the most difficult technical challenges manufacturers face when reducing sodium in snacks like chips?
Thank you.
So definitely the main challenges will be how the salt is making the release in terms of taste profile, taste alities, and especially the salt curve, which will be split up into three phases the upfront saltiness, the middle, and the long lasting.
The upfront saltiness is the most challenging.
This is where at least you would expect to have pungency, very sharp taste on its own, you know, for the first, for the first bite, and this is what drives consumers' acceptance and liking.
So this is really the most, let's say challenge in terms of upfront release on its own.
Then there will be also some challenges over the categories about texture and perception shift.
The salt can also influence, you know, the crunchiness perception, and also, you know, as I was mentioning about the upfront with the lung, the temporal profile of testing, how the salt will be released over time.
So again, that's all related to this time experience on its own.
Then on top of it, we know that it's going to be the salt will be really, let's say dependent.
The salt release will be very much dependent on the type of seasoning the matrix.
So it means that either you're going to have a savory profile or a cheese profile or a barbecue, and it's the salt, as soon as the salt concentration will be less, will change heavily your taste tonalities, your taste profile on its own.
So instead of having a very rich cheese.
Profile with like a really depth premiumization on its own, you can have like a flatter profile, less morphine, less rich, let's say more potato chips dominance on the lasting, and this is exactly what customers they don't want because they are paying the right price to get the right taste experience.
So it's all related about upfront middle loans, the way that the salt will play on that taste release.
From, let's say sharpness, immediate pungency to middle body to lingering on its own, and I would say on the top of these challenges, in charge, the last one would be chef life, flavor stability, so again.
The the the salt will be part of that shelf life, part of, again, you know, against, you know, the oxidation, and, and make sure that there is no loss of, of, of flavor top notes, which also can influence your your taste tonalities on its own.
OK, interesting.
And coming to Kerry, what are the solutions that the company is offering to snack manufacturers to lower their salt while also maintaining the taste that consumers want?
Thank you Inja for the question.
So it's all about, you know, the market gap that I was mentioning about, you know, upfront saltiness, middle long and lasting lingering, delivering the, the right, let's say, salty perception over time.
So we have a dedicated portfolio, under Kerry, which name is Tess and salt, and this tests and salt is, is made from, natural flavoring.
So it's like proprietary taste modulation tools that can rebuild all the upfront saltiness.
A Long perception and correct also the long lasting aspect of my comments related to bitterness or botanic offloads which can happen.
So that on that essential portfolio we are using one unique core platform within inquiry which is a fermentation, and this fermentation platform is a core foundation which allows us, let's say to play and to deliver the right, let's say umami and Kokoi.
Taste foundations, in terms of let's say how it works, the salt is quite complex as I was mentioning to you because it's, it's, it's driven on one unique channel.
So the challenge is how to, let's say compensate the lack of flavor from a lack of saltiness concentration, and this is where Kerry is unique in our, let's say science process with an understanding of key receptors because we have the capability to play on.
That umami and kokumi, which are two different channels, in order really to restore the depth, the roundness, the morphine, and lingering.
So this is a way for us to really trigger that channels in order really to, let's say, close the gap in terms of saltiness flavor which will be missing as soon as we're going to have a reduced salt matrix.
On top of that fermentation, we do incorporate other.
Technology platforms which will be under the savory modulation, so specific key metabolimics synergizing with the umami and the coumi compounds in order again to modulate your key attributes as if you would be eating, you know, a barbecue seasonings or cheese, you know, seasoning tonalities because again it's all about, you know, giving back the right, let's say overall experience from a consumer standpoint.
The additional capability and uniqueness based on our tools will be also our ownership in terms of of our seasoning system.
So we do have, let's say the right seasonings formulators in-house, being experts in terms of development system in order to make sure that we are providing the right tools, synergizing with the formulation on the seasonings and taking care of about consumers' experience.
So that's also related to the application specific design as.
It means that our tastes and salt because the challenge would be different, either you're going to have a PC, potato chips, or popcorns or crackers, so it means that we've got some different tools looking after the more, let's say matrix specifics on its own.
If I take for instance, you know, the exclusion base, the exclusion base challenge will be different from the potato chips.
In terms of in terms of fat content, in terms of base content, in terms of offload content, that's all correlated also to the soil perception on its own.
And finally, all these solutions again are cleanable pathways, so we are claiming our solutions, natural flavorings, and again this is a fermentation as a core platform used to drive this new portfolio within Kerry's house.
OK, thank you for explaining that so.
So you go, I'm also curious to know that if consumers say they want healthier snack, but they also reject products which have less salt, how can manufacturers realistically close this gap?
To, to Mina, it's really regarding, you know, the three dimensions I was mentioning to you, which could be qualified, let's say to how to rebuild the sensory journey, how to make sure that again you're focusing on the right, let's say, early impact of franco I was mentioning, let's say recreate, you know, the right body taste on its own in terms of middle, middle note on its own and also bring.
Back, you know, the right lingering, the right, you know, temporal experience, that, you know, consumers will, will, will expect to have on its own.
So to me it's really, you know, to combine the three dimensions and to make sure that again you are driving the right, , taste experience at the end looking after this, let's say dimensions from a, from a taste, , perspective.
And of course that will have to be translated via how you, how you would qualify this sensory journey against let's say the overall liking or the even better liking.
So there is room for us to play around, you know, on that test I mentioned reaching out again your, your consumer's acceptance.
The second part in would be again, to bring back, you know, the layer about Yami Kokumi against around, that's, let's say.
Taste again, taste perception because again you will have to compensate for the lack of flavor.
So that's overall speaking, I would say the sensory journey is, is the right answer to to bringing back and, and to, to get the right proof that we can recreate, you know, the, the taste experience over time.
OK.
And now coming to the technological aspect, how do you think fermentation can help manufacturers rebuild the flavor and salt perception when it comes to reduced snack?
So to me it's it's really the way that this platform is really unlocking some specific, let's say compounds, metabolinics, peptides, as I was previously mentioning, it's all about you know triggering the right receptors on its own and again fermentation is a is a key platform being able you know to to create that compound.
Which will, you know, trigger the right, let's say, taste pathways.
So again, the, the umami landscape will play around, you know, this kind of middle loads.
The kokummi will be like more about continuity, complexity, mouth field, OK, compensating the lack of of sodium, modulating, modulating efficiency.
So to me again, there is a core landscape, a core benefits from that fermentation to really trigger the, the right sensory pathways and on top, of course, you will have to bring other molecules, other compounds again to recreate the full savorines profile as per of my previous comments.
OK.
And, to wrap up this interesting topic, I think it would be great to know your views on, in the future, do you think fermentation and taste modulation will eventually replace the traditional salt reduction approaches, or there will be multiple technologies coexisting?
To, to me, it's it's, it's going to be like a multiple technologies aspects and what this, let's say multiple technologies aspects, I would say one historical technology pathway which has its own limits would be, let's say mineral salts again, depending, you know how much salt your matrix, your snacks will contain, but it's all about, you know, triggering, the the the salt.
Salt receptor.
So this, let's say mineral salt can definitely bring back some minerality, some upfront can be part of it as an initial triggering.
So that can be, you know, one dimension to be kept over, let's say the medium long term because again that would be very difficult to recreate, you know, salt without salt purely and then there will be a combination with.
Fermentation definitively as per of let's say umami kokumi specific compounds to be created on its own triggering the right sensors as I was mentioning on its own, so that would be, yeah, definitely fermentation derived compounds and the last one will be taste modulators.
So the taste modulators will be like specific again compounds taking care about your.
Tsalities coming back from a diversification of, of raw material, in terms of let's say fractionation, and, and these, let's say test modulators can also work with the umami and the kokumi, let's say, receptors.
They can bring some saltiness, on its own, so to me that's really, that would be part of, let's say the, the right combo in terms of, of.
Of solutions, you know, to really deliver the right taste experience from a from a consumer's standpoint.
So I would say that's, yeah, that's the way I would see, you know, a technological landscape for for the upcoming innovation and and and and formulation at the end.
