Fruit and floral flavor pairings
The Lingering Lavender Berry flavor suited for soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and tea, among other applications, according to GSB.
It is being launched alongside two other flavors; Dark Chocolate Lychee and Passionate Honey Vanillabell, which combines passionfruit, vanilla and Honeybell orange. These are intended for confections, baked goods and savory creations, as well as beverages.
The range is part of a company-wide “Shuffled Flavors” campaign, launched in September, which aims to combine unusual yet complementary tastes.
A spokeswoman for GSB told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “They (lavender and lingonberry) give off the nuance of the real fruits and products, which adds character to a finished product.
“Lavender lends itself to a sweet, pleasant, airy and slight citrus aroma.”
Lavender has traditionally been used by the personal care industry as a fragrance and is also renowned for its sedative, spasmolytic, antiviral and antibacterial properties but recently it has garnered interest from the food industry as a flavor.
The spokeswoman said that lavender is more of a European aroma and flavor, as the company has not seen much demand for it in the US. However, the hope is that this will grow.
She added: “There has been a small demand for lingonberry flavors and products in the US. We have seen lingonberry mixed with other fruits as a result of the recent exotic fruit craze.”
Lingonberry, like most superfruits, has elevated levels of phytonutrients such as flavonoids and phenolic acids. It is generally marketed on its heart health, immunity and anti-ageing benefits, as well as the cranberry-dominated urinary tract infection area.
Although the flavors themselves don't have these properties they benefit from the health associations of the actual fruit.
According to Mintel, a leading market research company, seven products with either lavender or lingonberry were introduced in the US in 2003. This increased to 24 in 2007 and,in 2008 there have been 30 so far.
The use of flowers in food and beverage products is seen by the market researcher as a trend in its very early stages and relatively uncommon.
Similarly, in 2007 flavor firm McCormick identified Lavender and Honey as one of its top ten new flavor pairings with exotic and unusual combinations which they expected would be a major trend this year.
The GSB spokeswoman added: “We want to make sure we are on the cutting edge of new tastes and flavors. We have four Certified Flavor Chemists who work hard to formulate the perfect flavor blends.”
GSB specializes in custom flavor creations and its research and manufacturing facilities are located in Atlanta, Georgia.
