Synergy Flavors’ new transparency portal teaches how to formulate with clean-label extracts and flavors

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Synergy Flavors (Wauconda, IL) has launched an online portal called TRU (Transparent, Responsible, Unblemished) Stories, devoted to manufacturers who want to learn how to develop clean-label products using Synergy’s natural and organic extracts and flavors. “With TRU Stories, our goal is to assist food and beverage manufacturers with building honest relationships with their consumers by having nothing to hide. It’s a great starting point in the process of education on using the purest ingredients to deliver an authentic, true-to-nature experience,” said Parveen Werner, marketing director of Synergy Flavors, in a press release.

Brands are seeking clean-label solutions because consumers are demanding clean-label products. According to Nielsen¹, 53% of U.S. consumers say the exclusion of undesirable ingredients is more important to them than the inclusion of beneficial ingredients, and that 68% are willing to pay more for foods and beverages that don’t contain ingredients they perceive as bad for their health. In terms of monetary value, product claims like “free of additives and artificial ingredients” and “all natural” have increased in value by 8% and 7.8%, respectively, according to Nielsen.

Clean label is an important way for brands to distinguish themselves, and this is evident when Nielsen reports that small manufacturers have sold the highest share of clean-label products. By comparison, large, mid-sized, and private-label manufacturers’ sales comprise 40% clean-label products versus 60% conventional. Clean label is allowing smaller brands to stand out, grow, and stay ahead of trends, leaving large manufacturers playing catchup through mergers and acquisitions.

The TRU Stories portal is not only a resource for finding a clean-label solution, but from a marketing perspective frames the clean-label trend as a way to enhance one’s relationship with the consumer through trust and transparency, rather than just a calculated business decision. According to Nielsen, only 44% of consumers globally say they trust industrially prepared foods, meaning that the majority of consumers lack trust in manufacturers. Manufacturers in the natural products industry are looking to change that. “It’s really about combining the art and science of flavor formulation with our unsurpassed insights and expertise in striving to guide brands through their flavors needs while staying true to their values,” says Werner.
 

References:

1. The Nielsen Company. “It’s clear: transparency is winning in the U.S. retail market.” 2017. Accessed September 21, 2018.