News

Symrise to focus on natural, sustainable at FiE

23 Nov 2017

Fruits, roots, seeds, bark, herbs, flowers and nuts: natural flavours and sustainable foods are, says Symrise, growing in popularity around the world, and the company will be showcasing its offering at Food Ingredients Europe (FiE).

Fruits, roots, seeds, bark, herbs, flowers and nuts: natural flavours and sustainable foods are, says Symrise, growing in popularity around the world, and the company will be showcasing its offering at Food Ingredients Europe (FiE).

Consumers love natural tastes, Symrise believes, noting that this trend began in individual markets and with individual product categories. The situation has now changed completely, the company says. More than ever, consumers want environmentally friendly and ethical food for conscious nutrition. Symrise says it recognised these trends early on and has conducted numerous studies to analyze them, and FiE visitors can see the results and solutions for themselves.

Hamish Taylor, Project Manager for Sustainability at Symrise, will present a project for sustainable cultivation of citrus fruit in Calabria. The project is working toward building a local network of farmers, cooperatives and universities. It aims to foster biodiversity in the region and support the farmers in achieving a reliable livelihood.

“The local farmers only feel motivated to invest more in the cultivation of citrus fruit if it will allow them to earn an appropriate income for themselves and future generations,” Taylor said.

Rob Evans, head of the research and development department of the Diana Food division, will present how sustainability can be implemented across the entire value chain using a study on beetroot. In his presentation, he will show how type selection, sourcing and processing of raw materials, from the producer to the consumer, can ensure a sustainable range of products.

The growing demand for “real food” made from the best natural ingredients, responsibly produced by carefully selected growers, has led to the fact that transparency and “clean labels” with a short list of ingredients significant influence consumers’ purchasing decisions, Symrise believes. Frank Hoeving, Vice President of Category Culinary EAME at Symrise, will provide an overview of how consumers’ desires regarding food labelling can be met, covering backward integration of raw materials and the expertise of Symrise in specific production processes as well as support for proper labelling.

The global boom in demand for natural-tasting food has now also extended to emerging markets, Symrise notes, with governments in these countries increasingly reviewing and planning to pass their own laws regarding flavouring substances and food safety. The legal and technical production challenges that can result from these developments and how these challenges can be successfully met will be addressed by Ute Woelke, Vice President for Strategic Regulatory Affairs at Symrise, in the third presentation.

Given the global trend toward naturalness and sustainability, Symrise says it is continually expanding its competence in naturalness and is working on a strategic platform based on both – decades of experience and profound corporate knowledge in the processing of botanical raw materials. It also draws on the results of a cross-national study in which Symrise analysed the matter from the view of consumers and experts with an eye on technological requirements.

“We can say with precision how a certain beverage should taste and which additional characteristics will boost the impression of naturalness. This allows us to understand consumer wishes more closely and we can implement them in successful beverage concepts,” said Dr. Alexander Lichter, Sales Director Flavor EAME at Symrise.