just need a proper flavour strategy.
So for example, again, it's not that vanilla doesn't work, it's just the fact that you haven't found the right vanilla profile for your base yet.
Because this is your base that is going to dictate the flavour that you can work with and your flavour strategy.
Not the most popular flavours, not the trendy flavours, not what the competitors are doing, not what you personally like.
If you want to create food or drink products that actually taste amazing, get the repeat purchases and see your sales go up, you need the flavour strategy.
I'm Manon Galizi, food scientist and flavour expert, and in this podcast, I share what I've learnt from helping food and drink brands create new products from scratch, choose the right flavour direction or fix the flavour that are not working.
And you're looking at your product range thinking, "What's going on? Why? What is happening?" They are popular flavours, they should be working.
I recently worked with a plant-based protein brand facing exactly this situation.
And we discovered completely changed how they think about flavours.
It took about 150 trials across the six flavours to get it right, but we got it right.
So if you're experiencing declining sales, or if your product is just not performing the way they used to, how, or how it should do, this case today is going to be really helpful.
let me paint the picture.
This brand had launched their Plant-based Protein Powders range a few years ago with six flavours.
Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, caramel, banana and blueberry.
The ones that everyone knows will sell, right?
They did what most brands do. They return to their flavour house, they ask for some samples, we need a vanilla flavouring, we need a strawberry flavouring.
The flavour house sent them one or two samples of each flavour, they tested them, pick the one they liked and launch
years he worked.
They got into retail, they had their customers buying, but few years down the line the markets changed.
plant-based protein brands appeared, so many more competitors and customers have more choice than ever for the same benefit.
I think a few years ago it was okay to have a very functional product with a lot of benefits and the taste was not really good because customers were focussing on the functionality,
or the product delivery.
But nowadays, when you have dozens and dozens of exactly the same offer with the same benefits, is about the taste.
Obviously, they went back to their flavour house and they asked, can we have more samples and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.
So as you can imagine, nothing really was making any difference.
So this brand really felt stuck.
They couldn't really understand. They were popular flavours.
They didn't want necessarily complex flavour profiles, so they didn't really understand why it didn't work.
But this is what they didn't realise and this is one of the biggest mistakes I see with food and drink brands when it comes to flavours.
They were focussing on what flavours are popular, which flavours aren't the more liked, what do consumers want.
But they never asked the question, which is the most important question, what flavour will actually work with my base.
So if you've been following my podcast for a while and my videos on my Instagram, you know what I'm going to say.
The most important question is always, what flavour will actually work with my base.
Because this is your base that is going to dictate the flavour that you can work with and your flavour strategy.
Not the most popular flavours, not the trendy flavours, not what the competitors are doing, not what you personally like.
If you're working on a plant-based protein powder, especially if you want it to be more natural without added sugar,
for example, so if it's made from pea protein, rice protein or hemp protein, you are definitely dealing with challenges.
These ingredients can have earthy, bitter or beany off-notes that are really hard to mask.
So you can't just slap any chocolate or vanilla flavour on top and expect it to work.
That's like trying to paint over a damp wall.
Eventually, those base notes will break through and ruin the flavour.
So that's what's happening when you taste the product and it still has that beany off taste at the back or the bitter aftertaste that just doesn't go away no matter how much flavouring you add.
Because the reality is that plant-based proteins are not dairy proteins.
So you can't approach them the same way.
Each plant protein behaves differently.
Pea protein for instance is different to rice, which is different to hemp.
And even within pea proteins, there are different grades.
So some are more refined, some have stronger off-notes.
Your flavour strategy needs to be built around your actual base, not around what the trends are.
For this brand we're talking about, they made all the classic mistakes.
And if you're listening, you probably recognised them.
First one is to assume that popular flavours equal good flavours.
Chocolate might be the bestseller in another brand, but that doesn't mean it will work with your product.
Secondly is to ask for generic samples to your flavour house or your contract manufacturer.
Send me one vanilla flavouring, send me few vanilla flavourings without having a flavour strategy behind it.
Because flavour houses have hundreds of different flavour profiles.
So how are they supposed to pick the one that you want?
They don't have a crystal ball, they would just send you maybe the most popular one that they have, their core flavours, but there is no guarantee that it's going to work.
Third mistake is when you try a vanilla extract or a vanilla flavouring for example and it doesn't work in your product, this is what I heard most people thinking "oh, vanilla is not working".
It just means these vanilla flavouring or these vanilla extract with the specific flavour profile didn't work in your product.
But there are hundreds of different flavour profiles for each flavour.
So maybe these two vanilla profiles you've tried don't fit your base, but maybe a more creamy one for example will work better.
And fourth mistake is when I see food entering brands trying to replicate exactly the same taste as the real fruit.
First of all, it will never happen.
Even if you use extract, essences or oleoresin, it will rarely taste exactly the same as the real fruit or the real veg.
And again, secondly, it doesn't mean that it will fit your product.
Sometimes like in our case with this client, a custody vanilla works so much better than a vanilla extract.
So how do you fix this and how do you identify the right flavour profile for your base?
want to have a little sneak peek of what I do with my clients,
I walk you through in my flavour blueprint.
It's completely free.
It's a step-by-step guide
you the exact process I use with my client and my fix package
we are fixing their end-of-performing products.
you will learn how to diagnose what is wrong with your current flavours, how to put flavour houses properly, so you're not just getting the gender examples I mentioned before, and how to identify the right flavour profile for your specific base.
So this food brand I work with, we fixed the six flavours in their range.
It took about six months and 150 trials,
but we got there.
We really created product that everyone was so proud of in their team.
Everyone started to think, "I'm going to actually buy and actually drink our product now."
Obviously, the journey is not finished because we've launched it.
Now we are waiting for their consumers' feedback, and we may have to tweak a few things in the future.
the feedback is amazing.
So this is possible for you too.
If you have tried everything, if you have tried a lot of different flavours, you are shooting in the dark.
So even if you've done a lot of back and forth with the flavour house or your contract manufacturer, even if you're confused why popular flavours don't work and which one to choose,
just need a proper flavour strategy.
So for example, again, it's not that vanilla doesn't work, it's just the fact that you haven't found the right vanilla profile for your base yet.
So if that resonates with you and if you're dealing with declining sales or that just aren't performing the way they should, I really recommend you to download the free flavour book print
will start giving you a framework to start fixing your flavour strategy instead of guessing.
And if you have more questions around my method, you can always contact me via the website or via Instagram or LinkedIn.
if you found this episode helpful, I have a favour to ask.
Please leave a review on whatever platform you are listening to this podcast.
Your review genuinely helps this podcast grow and make it more visible to other food-entering brands who are struggling with the same challenges you may be facing.
And I will see you in the next episode. Bye!
