Welcome to the last episode of 2025.
I wanted to take some time to reflect on this year, share what I've learnt and give you a glimpse of what is coming in 2026.
2025 has been definitely a year of learnings.
It has been a year of growth, of challenges and some incredible projects that really pushed me out of my comfort zone.
think there are some lessons there that may be helpful for you, especially if you're a food entering brand and you're working with challenging bases or thinking of launching something new in 2026.
So let's dive
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.
One of the biggest changes I've made this year was to simplify my services.
At the start of the year, I had about nine services and honestly it was confusing for potential customers and it was exhausting for me to manage.
Create, choose and fix.
is for food entering brands who need a full product development from concept to launch.
Choose is for food entering brands launching functional or plant-based products.
Let's say challenging product who need help selecting the right flavour direction.
And fix is for food entering brands with product already on the market but they are just not performing the way they should.
And I've created these three packages because they represent the three main challenges I see food entering brands facing.
simplifying this had made me so much more clearer for food entering brands to understand how I can help them.
Something else I've become very clear this year is the type of food entering brands I absolutely love working with.
These are the brands that I want to create something that is better for people, that is better for the planet.
I'm talking about clean label, vegan and allergen-free product for example.
are brands that care about wholesome ingredients, quality ingredients and they're not chasing for the cheapest option.
But here's the truth about this product.
They often come with challenges.
They can taste earthy, fishy, bitter, woody.
don't have the usual ingredients or additives to cover up all of this off notes.
is a kind of project that really gets me excited because they are not straightforward.
They are making a difference compared to all of the food industry crap that they are doing.
And they force me to think outside of the box.
Because again, as a food scientist, and I saw it very recently but I would do a special podcast episode to talk about it,
I worked with another food scientist and he jumped straight to which additive can we add?
We need to add this and this and this to have the perfect product on shelf.
And I was like, no, this is not what the product, the project, the brand want.
They want something that is clean label.
So we have to think outside of the box.
a lot of flavour strategy, understanding the science behind the flavour pairing and it required a lot, a lot of trials to get it right.
But it's so worth it.
speaking of challenging projects, I have to tell you one that absolutely consumed me this year is a plant-based barista milk that I've been working on for almost 16 months now. 16 months.
But here's the thing, I never created or worked on a plant-based barista milk before.
So I had to learn how to do it from scratch.
But it wasn't just about creating a plant-based milk, it was a barista milk, which means it has to perform in a very specific way.
to foam properly.
It has to be stable in coffee so it doesn't separate or look like scrambled eggs.
It has to enhance the coffee without overpowering it.
And the client wanted a better for you product with cleaner ingredients, natural stabilisers, no additives.
So it really challenged everything I thought I knew about emulsions, proteins, and how ingredients behave in hot liquids.
And let's say there were very, very long days and a lot of failed trials.
So, so, so many.
Honestly, I don't even know how much we have done.
And moment when I really thought I can't do this, but we got there.
And this was one of the biggest learnings of 2025.
If you don't know how to do it, figure it out.
You learn, you experiment, you test, you test, you test, you learn more, you adapt.
And especially that, don't be afraid to push your limits.
You're capable of so much more than you think.
And I don't know if you're listening right now, but thank you Damien and Elodie for trusting me with this project.
I learnt so much, so, so much working with you.
Another thing that had hit me this year is how much clients come to me not because they found me first, but because they finally realised their approach to flavouring wasn't working.
What I mean by this is often, especially food and drink brands, they would work with the flavour house, which is completely normal.
Food and drink brands work with a flavour house, they work with a contract manufacturer.
But often, there's back and forth and back and forth, and I've heard this many times, many times, I've received some message like, "I've done 50, 70, 100, 250 samples, and I'm not getting anywhere.
"I don't know what to do now."
Or, "I worked with so and so, it's a very good contract manufacturer, why is my product not working?"
So they've been doing a lot of trial and error and spending time and money in trials.
And when they've reached out to me, there was a moment I thought, "Wow, I wish they'd found me sooner."
Because if we start right from the beginning, it saves them so much time, money and frustration.
So another message I've received a lot and I've heard in the discovery calls is something like, "I'm really glad we found you.
"I wish I knew your job existed a year ago and I had no idea there was so much complexity and strategy behind flavours for product."
So this is when I realised there is a gap in understanding.
Food and drink brands know their flavours.
this is why I realised the big gap there is in understanding.
Food and drink brands know they need flavours, but they don't know that there is a strategic process for selecting the right flavour profile for their specific base.
They think it's just ask for a flavour house for vanilla or add some fruit juice concentrate, some powders, and that's it.
you heard me saying many times on the podcast, "A vanilla is not just a vanilla"?
Whatever you're using, if you're using a vanilla flavour, a vanilla extract, some vanilla powder, or any fruit juice concentrate, you use any fruit powder, any product you use to flavour your product, there is always hundreds of different vanilla or strawberry flavour profiles.
And only some of them will work with your specific product.
And that's why I created this podcast.
And that's why I created the flavour blueprint that you can download for free, because I want to bridge that gap.
I want food and drink brands to understand there is a better way to approach flavours than just guessing and hoping.
And now on a more personal note, this year I started teaching women only self-defence classes.
And I'm just so proud of these women.
Every week I see their body language, their confidence is growing, they are learning to set boundaries, distances, to take some space, and to trust their instincts.
And it connects really much with what I do in my business.
whatever is self-defence or creating a business and a food or drink product is about empowerment, is about confidence.
It's about the confidence to push your boundaries.
It's about no settling for less than you deserve.
So what is coming in 2026, you may ask?
I have some exciting things planned.
First, the podcast is going to look a little bit different.
I'm bringing guest interviews.
I want to hear from other food and drink professionals, from founders, from people who are solving interesting problems in the industry.
So stay tuned for that.
will also have more webinars and events in the pipeline, more opportunities for us to connect, and for you to learn about flavour strategy and product development.
But here is something really important.
I really want to understand about your struggles.
What are you dealing with right now?
What challenges are you facing with your food and drink product?
Because the content I create, whatever is the podcast, the webinars, the event I talk to, or the social content on Instagram or LinkedIn, they're all designed to help you.
But I can only do that if I know what you're struggling with.
So I'm going to be rich out and connect with you more.
But you can also reach me.
If you leave a comment on the podcast's platform, if you send me a message through my website at epixie.gov.uk, or a message on LinkedIn or Instagram, tell me what you're dealing with.
What is keeping you at night about your food and drink product?
And you'll think back, help me create content that actually is useful for you, that is going to help you.
So please don't be shy and reach out.
That's it for 2025.
Thank you so much for listening to this podcast, for following along on this journey, and for being part of this amazing community of food and drink brands who care about doing some product better for the planet, better for people, and that tastes amazing.
I'm really excited for what is coming in 2026, and I hope you are too.
And if you find this episode helpful, please leave a review on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast.
Your review genuinely helps this podcast grow and make it more visible to other food and drink brands who are struggling with the same challenges you'll be facing.
And I will see you in the next episode. Bye!
