Symrise develops, produces and sells fragrance, flavoring and food ingredients, as well as functional ingredients and solutions that enhance the sensory properties and nutrition of various products. The company’s Taste, Nutrition & Health segment uses its combined expertise as well as scientific research to offer customers and partners unique, natural ingredient-based and sustainable solutions.
At Bridge2Food‘s Plant-Based Foods & Proteins Summit Europe, 21-23 June in the Netherlands, Symrise experts will be leading an Innovation Festival with delicious tastings and thought-leading presentations. They are also speakers on a panel presentation.
- What is the importance of taste in creating irresistible plant-based products?
Symrise has firmly integrated the importance of taste in its DNA. We follow our mission to make lives tastier and healthier together. When we speak about consumer acceptance, we speak about creating high-fidelity, plant-based products. High fidelity means the product looks like, tastes like and behaves like the animal-based original. Our consumer research shows that 70 per cent of consumers will buy again only if the product tastes right.
— Florian Herkner, Head of Global Growth Platform Plant-Based
2. How can Symrise address the complexity of sustainability for its customers?
Symrise addresses sustainability with our four key pillars: footprint, innovation, sourcing and care. Our sensory consumer insights help understand shifting consumer behavior whilst working with our customers to address processes and cost-effective raw materials. Our Business Incubation Group influences our global innovation. It brings together new potentially game-changing ideas and solutions for Taste, Nutrition & Health.
— Catherine Trillo-Blanco, Global Growth Platform Manager
- How does your company leverage modern tools like AI and big data in product development?
Data science provides the key for efficient and successful product development. Symrise is using state-of-the-art AI tools. It combines them with a unique analytical approach and enhanced raw material knowledge. With their help we develop predictive models to support our customers with best-performing solutions.
— Lars Grohmann, Master Technologist/Master Flavor Analysis
- What do you see for the future of the plant-based industry?
The future of plant-based lies in innovation at a speed and scale beyond anything the industry has ever seen. If we want to create a sustainable global food system, plant-based foods need to become very quickly more delicious, desirable and affordable than animal-derived equivalents. This is going to require plenty of new ingredients, new processes and new technologies.
— Anthony Warner, Development Chef
- Where do you see as the biggest challenges when it comes to dairy alternatives and the wide range of protein sources developing?
The plant-based market is evolving extremely fast. New plant sources are occurring on the market every day. This brings multiple possibilities to combine them, whether in a drink, a fermented product or an ice cream! We must master the challenge to hit a moving target. Dairy milk has got a very similar taste worldwide.
— Hélène Jolivet, Technical Manager Dairy
- What can you tell us about the panel discussion coming up on June 22nd with colleagues Catherine Trillo-Blanco, Global Growth Platform Manager, Lars Grohmann, Master Technologist/Master Flavor Analysis, Anthony Warner, Development Chef, and Birgit Dekkers (Founder/CEO, Rival Foods)?
We must consider many levels when crafting a plant-based product. In today’s market, consumers are looking for high-fidelity products, which create irresistible experiences during consumption. This will lead to repeat purchases for food manufacturers. The panel will discuss the challenges of creating high-fidelity (taste, texture, etc.) products that stand out in a fragmented and complex market.
— Andrew Mihelakis, Marketing Manager
You can connect with the Symrise team and learn more about what Symrise has to offer at Summit Europe 21-23 June in Ede, Netherlands.
Summit information here.
Summit program here.
Summit registration here.
