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Sound Familiar?
You brief your flavour supplier or contract manufacturer. They send samples. You go back with feedback. More samples arrive. Another month passes and nothing is solved.
Your team has tasted the product so many times they have stopped being objective. You have too.
Meanwhile:
✕ Your reviews keep mentioning a problem about the taste
✕ Your repeat purchase rate is not where it should be
✕ Your sales are slipping and you cannot fully explain why
And there is a question you are not quite saying out loud yet: what happens if we cannot fix this before the next buyer review?
A product that keeps underperforming on taste is a product that risks getting delisted. And winning back a retail listing once you have lost it is significantly harder than keeping it.
So What Is Actually Going Wrong?
Most food or drink brands jump straight to getting a formulation ready for their contract manufacturer.
But if nobody has answered the most important question first, every formulation is just a guess:
Who specifically is this product for, and what does that person's palate actually want from it?
✕ Your flavour supplier is working from your brief
✕ Your co-manufacturer is suggesting what they have seen work before
✕ Your team is going on personal preference
✕ Nobody has gone back to the consumer first. And that is why the samples keep coming back wrong.
Once you know who you are making the product for, the next step is finding which flavours naturally complement your specific base, including the challenging ones. That is where the real work begins.
Book Your Free 30-Min Call“Manon guided us through a clear process that made decision-making much easier, removing a lot of biases, and always rooted in what was best for our brand.”
Salvatore Notaro, Managing Director @ Vivo Life
Your F&D Product Development Partner
FLAVOUR DIAGNOSTIC
If you know the product has a taste problem but you are not sure what is causing it, start with the Flavour Diagnostic.
Send me your product and within one week I will send you a detailed expert report covering exactly what is working, what needs improving, and what the specific next steps are.
Every report includes a personalised video walkthrough so you understand every recommendation and know exactly where to go from here.
Investment: from £150 per product
Turnaround: within 1 week
Includes: written expert report, personalised video walkthrough, clear next steps.
FLAVOUR DEVELOPMENT
If you already know what needs to change in your food or drink product and need someone to do the trials for you go straight to Flavour Development.
I go deep into your specific product, your target consumer's palate, and your category. I run as many trials as it takes in my own lab. I guide you through structured tasting sessions so your team can make decisions with confidence rather than personal preference. And I stay with you through the first production run so what comes out of the factory is exactly what we agreed together.
You leave with a validated flavour direction, a team that knows how to evaluate and brief flavour properly, and a product you are genuinely proud of.
Investment: £2,500-£7,000
Timeline: 1 to 3 months
Includes: consumer brief, flavour workshop, in-house trials, in-person guided tasting sessions, production support.
VIVO LIFE: From Declining Sales to 4.9-Star Reviews
Vivo Life had been in the market for nearly a decade. Their plant-based supplements are functional and clean-label.
But sales were declining, and the team had been going back and forth with flavour suppliers for months without a breakthrough.
After working through my Flavour Development process:
✓ Taste issues resolved across 7 products including their full Perform range
✓ MindGrnd launched with 4.9 out of 5 stars from consumer reviews
✓ Positive consumer feedback across every reformulated product
✓ Ongoing partnership now in its second year, 7 projects and counting.
Read the Full Case Study →Why Work With Me Rather Than a Flavour Supplier?
I have worked inside a flavour supplier. What they cannot give you is someone who takes your specific product into their own lab, builds trials around your target consumer's palate, and stays with you from the first brief through to the factory run.
I have spent more than 10 years in food science and technology, trained in flavour development at a leading UK flavour supplier, and worked with established brands across functional supplements, plant-based food, and functional drinks.
I specialise in the categories where taste is hardest:
● Functional ingredients and plant-based proteins
● Marine collagen and challenging supplement
● Botanicals and adaptogens ingredients
The products your co-manufacturer calls "difficult to flavour", is not a dead end. It is a brief.
And I do not disappear after the samples. I stay with you until it is right.
Read My Full Story →
Is EPICSI the Right Fit for You?
THIS IS FOR YOU IF:
✓ You are an established food or drink brand, already in retail or selling online, with at least one product on the market
✓ Your sales are declining and consumer feedback, reviews, or your own internal tasting sessions are pointing to taste as the problem
✓ You are launching a functional or plant-based product with a challenging ingredient base and you need to get the flavour right before launch
✓ You have worked with flavour suppliers or your co-manufacturer and the samples are not solving the problem
✓ You do not have a dedicated in-house R&D and you need an expert who will take full ownership of the process
✓ You have a retailer pitch, a buyer review, or a launch deadline and you cannot afford to get the taste wrong
THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF:
✕ You are looking for someone to send you more samples without diagnosing what is actually wrong first
✕ You want the quickest or cheapest option regardless of whether it solves the problem properly
✕ You are not open to the idea that your product needs to speak to a specific consumer rather than appeal to everyone.
Still not sure? Book a free 30-min call.Every Month This Goes Unsolved, the Risk Gets Higher
Consumers who try your product once and do not enjoy it rarely give it a second chance. Sales continue to slip. Reviews keep coming in. And if you are already in retail, a buyer review is never far away.
You do not need more samples. You need a diagnosis and a clear plan.
Book your free 30-minute consultation. Just clarity on exactly what is going wrong and what needs to happen next.
Typically 2 to 3 slots per week.
Book My Free Call →
The Food Lab Podcast
Getting real about what makes food & drink products thrive
The Food Lab Podcast is a weekly conversation about building Food and Drink products people love and making the journey a whole lot smoother.
From mastering flavour profiles, to streamlining product development, to navigating retailer listings and consumer feedback.
All to help you go from frustrated by negative reviews and slow sales, to creating delicious, sustainable products that win customers, attract retailers, and grow your business with confidence.
Listen Now!
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If sales are slipping or reviews keep pointing to taste/flavour, it’s time to do something about it. Subscribe and get straight-to-the-point insights on how to fix flavour problems and futureproof your products.
