Taking away some of the “standards” from a manufacturers toolbox, such as salt, MSG and yeast extract, can create taste challenges, according to Gilbert Verschelling, Innovation Manager Savory Ingredients at DSM. In an in-depth interview with, he explains the drivers behind creating DSM’s latest clean label taste solution for distinctive savory flavor profiles and the challenges it helps food innovators overcome. The company launched its new MaxaGourmet portfolio of taste ingredients for Continental, Mediterranean and Oriental style savory soups, sauces and seasonings, as well as plant-based alternatives during Fi Europe, hosted in Paris, France, last week.
“It’s very much a new range of clean label taste solutions based on real foodstuffs, such as vegetables, herbs and spices, to create enrichment and complexity in a final application,” Verschelling explained from the showfloor.
“We see a clear trend in the market that people want to see clean labels and kitchen cupboard ingredients. We use our knowledge about creating taste, to create complex, rich flavors.”
This new range allows savory food manufacturers, flavor houses and seasoning producers to create products with an “adventurous and authentic” taste profile by providing distinctive flavor notes and adding taste complexity.
Inspired by the flavors created through sautéing, simmering or slow cooking food, MaxaGourmet has a light roasted, caramelized character. It is easy to implement, while its high potency means that only a small amount is needed to achieve the desired taste profile. It naturally enriches savory foods, supporting producers in creating clean label products, while also supporting the production of plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, kosher and halal products with authentic taste profiles.
“We have three products currently in the portfolio that are very much linked to popular cuisines. The Continental cuisine features the ample use of roasted onion, thyme, roast tomato, whereas the Mediterranean is based on tomatoes, onions and garlic, as well as oregano and basil. Oriental is more about ginger, onion, and garlic, next to traditional oriental spices,” he explains.
“These are three different directions to be used as a culinary building block in cooking applications to give that final twist to bring the enhancement and complexity recipes often need. They help make a fairly mundane recipe become something much more premium and likable. At the back of the pack, we still have a nice ingredient list of herbs and spices,” Verschelling continues.
“People understand complexity and richness in flavors and that’s what people are looking for and that is what this brings in the final recipe,” he adds.
DSM has a very strong position in yeast extracts and yeast-based flavors but wanted to tap into another segment as the demand for naturalness and transparency grows.
“Because we understand how to create flavors, rather than starting with the yeast extract, we start with vegetables, herbs and spices, and can still stay close to our core capabilities. We can drive them into a direction with the customers we already have and also with other customers who have wanted to stay away from yeast extract,” Verschelling notes.
The ethos is not just about replacement, but really “bringing more to the party,'” adds Stephen Hufton, Director Communications & External Affairs at DSM Food Specialties B.V.
“This is an opportunity for customers to create newer, more premium taste directions and recipes in their ranges and allow expanding what they are doing and how they can delight consumers with more interesting, more exciting and vibrant taste experiences,” he tells.
The company also stresses how much this solution taps into the top trend from Innova Market Insights for 2019, “The Adventurous Consumer,” because people are searching for exciting flavors and seeking out new taste experiences. Millennials are particularly looking for authenticity and vibrant tastes that can be shared on Instagram. At the same time, consumers are also scrutinizing the label for natural and “kitchen cupboard” ingredients more than ever.
DSM sees the MaxaGourmet portfolio tapping into the trends of Western Europe, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. “These are the first countries we are focusing, on but we already have interest from South Korea and Japan as well,” Verschelling concludes.
