How to Flavor Nutritional & Functional Products

Today there is little debate that new products with at least better-for-you ingredients and messages have broader appeal than those which have none. How big are consumers' interests in health and wellness products? Here are some statistics that quantify that answer.

• Functional snacks are projected to be the fastest-growing healthy food category globally through 2026.
• In the United States, 54% of consumers are looking for snacks that contain vitamins/minerals.
• 48% seek products with fiber; and 38% look for probiotics.
• Sales of collagen-containing snacks have jumped 46% compared with last year.
• In 2019, 77% of U.S. consumers used dietary supplements; those aged 35–54 were most likely to do so.
• More than half (58%) of all consumers use multivitamins: 31% take vitamin D; 28%, vitamin C; 21%, protein; 20%, calcium; 20%, B complex; 16%, omega-3s; 15%, green tea; 14%, magnesium; 13%, probiotics; 13%, iron; 12%, turmeric; and 12%, vitamin E.
• Vitamins/minerals accounted for 30% of the $48.8 billion supplement market in 2019, followed by herbs/botanicals at 19.6%; specialty supplements, 17.7%; sports nutrition, 14.5%; meal supplements, 11.7%; and minerals, 6.5%.*

*Stats provided by IFT.org

From statistics like these, it is no surprise that most new food and beverage products make some sort of nutritional or health benefit claim, either explicit or implied. But adding vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to make such claims often creates flavor challenges. We all like products that promote wellness but probably won’t become loyal fans of foods or beverages that taste odd, funky or just plain bad.

So, when developing functional or nutritionally fortified foods or beverages, it is helpful to have a flavor partner like abelei, that has experience in masking and flavoring a wide range of vitamins, proteins, oils, nutrients, and other healthy additives. Over the past 4 decades, we have worked on hundreds of such products and have an extensive database of formulating knowledge and great flavor formulas to serve as starting points for challenging new development projects.

However, when it comes to flavoring a new protein bar, fish or CBD oil, chewable vitamin, workout drink, or mushroom beverage, good starting points are only half the battle. For such products, the flavor solution is usually a custom-fit, requiring several lab trials to arrive at an acceptable flavor profile for a unique product base. This is because nutritive ingredients (B-Vitamins, Powdered Greens, Amino Acids, Pea Proteins, etc,), as well as other seemingly ‘basic’ ingredients like low-cal sweeteners (stevia), acids, cocoa powders, emulsifiers, natural concentrates, etc. have different organoleptic characteristics based on the supplier source. abelei’s vast collection of ingredients from various supplier sources and its familiarity with them greatly improves project results while reducing development time and cost.

2-Step Approach = Masking + Top-Noting

When developing and flavoring nutritional products the topic of masking undesirable flavor notes from various functional ingredients is normally one of the major challenges. Often the project requires a 2-step approach: first to mask or neutralize bad-tasting ingredients, followed by top-noting with berry, citrus, chocolate or a multitude of other flavors that complement the product base and appeal to the target consumers.

Fortunately, abelei has a growing library of flavor masking formulas with proven success in masking these ingredients:

• Amino Acids
• Adaptogens (various)
• CBD
• Caffeine,
• Coffee
• Fiber
• Fish Oils
• Greens (various)
• Medicines (various)
• Minerals (various)
• Mushrooms
• N-Acetyl L-cysteine (NAC)
• Protein (Whey, Pea, Oat, Hemp, etc.)
• Saline
• Soy
• Stevia
• Taurine
• THC
• Vitamins (various)
• Zinc Gluconate

for these types of products…

• Baked Goods
• Bar Products
• Collagen Drink Mixes
• Fat Burning Powders
• Hydration / Electrolyte Beverages
• Protein Drink Mixes
• Performance Enhancer Products
• Gummy Confections
• Hard Candies
• Chewable Vitamins

Of course, our team of analytical chemists, creative flavorists, food scientists, beverage developers and sensory specialists are always up to the challenge of designing a custom flavor solution for your proprietary formulation. Just click on one of the buttons below to either order flavor samples or schedule a meeting to discuss your project needs. We would enjoy the opportunity to help develop and flavor your next market success!

Flavor Trends in Functional & Nutritional Products

If you are interested in flavor trends for such products from abelei’s perspective, consider the shortlist below, or schedule a meeting to discuss many others.

• Botanicals (Orange Blossom, Rose, Chamomile, Elderflower, Jasmine, Lemongrass, Hibiscus)
• Exotic Fruits (Starfruit, Jackfruit, Passionfruit, Dragonfruit, Pomelo, Tropical Blends)
• Mediterranean Flavors (Rum, Flan, Fig, Pomegranate, Honey, Baklava, Apricot)
• Dessert Flavors (Pancakes & Syrup, Lava Cake, Blondie, Birthday Cake, Maple-Vanilla-Pear)
• Childhood/Nostalgic Favorites (Fruity Cereal, Cocoa Cereal, Various Branded Candy Types like Starburst, Sour Patch, Red Vines, etc.)