Flavours with freshness
Archer Daniels Midland Company’s (ADM) Wild Flavors and Specialty Ingredients business unit (WFSI) is expanding its portfolio to include new concepts featuring nuances of mint. Well-established options on the beverage shelves as well as tablets can enhance their profile by including the characteristic kick of minty freshness.
It is no exaggeration to describe mint as one of the few flavors that is truly a phenomenon.
On the one hand, it has been extremely popular and well-known around the world for centuries, and on the other hand it still has a very versatile character full of nearly inexhaustible potential for product innovations across all segments and categories. WFSI is proving this point once again with new ideas for soft drinks and mixed beverages as well as tablets.
Tropical fruits with kicky mint freshness in non-alcoholic beverages
The flavorists at WFSI have developed two concepts for new still drinks and carbonated soft drink applications. Both of these creations are based on tropical fruits but are very different in terms of their mint profile. For example, the sweet and aromatic taste of passion fruit is rounded out with a hint of a fresh peppermint with menthol. As a contrast, the second composition emphasizes spearmint, which has a green and leafy flavor profile that is an excellent match for “peely” watermelon.
Dynamic mint note for classic mixed drinks
Ginger ale, ginger beer and tonic are popular soft drinks in and of themselves, but they are also favorites when it comes to mixing long drinks and cocktails. In the past five years, the number of new product launches involving ginger ale and similar products tripled (Mintel GNPD, 2016), thereby showing their increasing relevance on the European market. New impulses for this growing and diversifying segment come from “fresh” creations with mint. WFSI offers three new kinds of CSD: “Citrus & Mint,” “Ginger Ale & Mint” and “Tonic & Mint” can each be enjoyed straight up, on ice or as a mixer with vodka or gin.
“Cool” effects for confectionary products
For tablets – an evergreen favorite in the confectionary market – WFSI has developed colorful granulates which offer a burst of freshness. Manufacturers can work with “Spearmint Green” and “Peppermint Blue” in different applications to create a truly cool response to the ongoing demand for unexpected product innovations. Coloring foodstuffs such as safflower and spirulina give the granulates natural and cheerful colors: grass green and sky blue.
Production and research on greater sustainability
All of WFSI’s mint concepts are characterised by well-balanced flavor compositions made of quality raw materials. In the many years it has been producing these premium materials, the company has paid special attention to conscientious use of natural resources. WFSI is continuing to rely upon the Plant Science Program so it can also be a global technological leader in developing natural, GMO-free kinds of mint. With its expert knowledge of cultivating, procurement and processing mint, WFSI is able to produce high quality ingredients and flavors on a sustainable basis.
The goal is also to generate mint varietals which have a high yield and are resistant to pests and pathogens. These plants also need to consume as little as possible in terms of resources such as water and pesticides. “All of these factors offer our customers secure raw materials at a high standardised quality level. This supports a “clean” image at a time when sustainability is becoming increasingly important to consumers,” says Sinja Mayer, product manager, ingredients, for WFSI.
