Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Key Takeaways
- Developers face challenges keeping up with rapidly changing consumer tastes for sweetness, especially among younger generations.
- Trendsetting flavors use nostalgic themes, such as ‘dessert-ifying’ traditional profiles into products like caramel brownie sundae.
- International flavors influence sweet brown profiles, where uniqueness and authenticity play vital roles in appealing to consumer preferences.
- Edlong’s Functional Sweet Brown Flavors help brands achieve complex layered tastes across various food products.
- Brands must deliver innovative flavors quickly while ensuring that marketing aligns with the actual taste experience to maintain consumer trust.
Rapidly shifting consumer demands and expectations can make it hard for developers to keep pace with the changes. Fortunately, as these trend waves rise, functional sweet brown flavors are evolving to meet these demands.
Creating New Classics
“From a development perspective, we’re at a bit of a crossroads,” says Anne Druschitz, Associate Principal Scientist – NA Applications & Corporate Research Chef, at Edlong.
“Classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and caramel aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they still are and probably will always be the market leaders and what drive repeat business. However, people, especially younger generations, aren’t happy with just the basics anymore. They constantly need something new and exciting. And those standard everyday profiles just aren’t grabbing their attention.”
She explains that this doesn’t mean new offerings have to be completely novel and unique; in fact, quite the opposite.
“Even though people want something new, it still needs to be familiar enough for them to try it.”
This is leading to what Druschitz calls the entree-fication, or dessert-ification of products and flavor profiles.
In other words, as we explored in Nextalgia in Action: Where Comfort Meets Global Taste and Flavor Discovery,“…any nostalgic dish can be a flavor.”
Instead of chocolate caramel, you now have caramel brownie sundae. Likewise, strawberry becomes strawberry pancake, or strawberry shortcake. Maple? Maple butter chicken and waffles.
Druschitz notes that these profiles are finding their way into products you would never have expected.
“Unexpected and deconstructed flavors have traditionally started in fine dining and then trickled down to consumer products. Sweet brown dessert profiles showing up in coffee beverages and creamers, ice cream and desserts is not surprising. What is, is finding them in things like potato chips, typically savory snacks or dips.”
In addition to turning dishes into flavor profiles, there is the very real impact of international flavors.
International Sweet Browns
It may seem repetitive to point out the influence international foods and flavors are having on food and beverage trends.
But according to Druschitz, global tastes are something developers looking to stay on-trend can’t afford to ignore.
“Where new global flavors used to be a ‘nice to have’, younger generations now see it as an expectation. Whether it’s from TikTok, traveling, or having friends from different backgrounds, they are constantly on the lookout for a culinary cultural exchange.“
While Gen Z has been setting trends for years, they are now gaining the buying power to back up that influence.
From caramel to condensed milk, sweet browns are able to help brands deliver and differentiate. More importantly, they allow brands to offer the layered indulgence the profile claims require.
Sweet Browns for Layered indulgence
“The issue with many of these ‘exciting’ flavor profiles is that they don’t deliver on their name,” laments Druschitz.
“Marketing departments spend a lot of time and research into coming up with seemingly innovative profiles. The name, imagery, and packaging is top notch, and that may be enough to get someone to buy it. Once.”
She continues, “Some developers are tempted to try and let the marketing do the work, but then the taste falls short. You can’t just use cocoa powder and call it double fudge chocolate brownie sundae. That name has nuance and layered complexity. When it doesn’t deliver, it’s only natural to feel disappointed.”
The same goes for international sweet browns.
The universal creamy comfort of caramel means different cultures will have their own unique take on this classic profile.
Take the Latin American favorites of dulce de leche and cajeta. Both rich and incredibly indulgent caramel profiles, yet distinctly different from a “regular” caramel, and from each other.
A standard caramel only requires sugar and water (though it often uses butter and cream) and relies on caramelization. Dulce de leche and cajeta both use milk and a longer, slower cooking process, during which the lactose and milk proteins undergo a Maillard reaction.
Dulce de leche, made from cow’s milk, is often thicker and creamier, with notes of sweetened condensed milk (sometimes used). Cajeta, on the other hand, uses goat’s milk, resulting in a deeper, funkier, more complex flavor and a silky texture.
Utilizing global sweet brown profiles is an amazing way to offer comfort and on-trend differentiation from competitors. That is, if you can capture the complexity.
Sweet Browns in Savory
This layered depth that sweet browns offer isn’t limited to dessert profiles.
We can see this in food traditions from around the world.
Vietnamese cuisine, for example, incorporates many caramelized flavors into its dishes.
Brown butter adds depth in a French sauce. Honey and maple can balance the vinegar tang of an American barbecue sauce or rub. Mexican chocolate and piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar) can help developers recreate the complexity of an abuelita’s Mole.
Sweet browns add credibility through authenticity.
As consumers lean into complex tastes, textures, and indulgent maximalism, layered nuance and authenticity matter more than ever.
This is where Edlong’s portfolio of functional sweet brown flavors can make all the difference.
Delivering On-Trend Tastes on Time
“With the speed at which trends are changing, there is a lot of pressure on brands to deliver,” says Druschitz.
“You get one department that sees the trend and wants to jump on it. Getting a product to market on time is one thing, but getting a great product out is another.”
She finds that these time constraints impact developers in different ways.
“Large CPG companies might have more resources and ability to the ability to ‘see what sticks’. Whereas smaller brands might not have the cachet to take those same risks. On the flip side, some start-ups are more nimble or have brands built around these trends. Their advantage is their ability to respond quickly.
This can put pressure on bigger companies with more moving parts that make them slower to respond. While they have recognition, there can be the fear that not responding could make their products irrelevant or lose market share.”
Time pressures aside, there’s the more important issue: delivering on taste.
Tailored Functional Sweet Brown Flavors
“Whether it’s time or taste, this is where Edlong can jump in and help developers get where they need to be,” says Druschitz.
“Our taste technologies can help us smooth out the rough edges, and highlight or bring out that characterization you’re looking for. We also can do so much more than that.”
The tools in Edlong’s taste technology toolbox help formulators unlock their innovation potential.
“Our functional sweet brown flavors not only help you achieve authentic flavor, but can help improve mouthfeel, perceived sweetness, etc. This helps our consumers layer flavors, as well as textures, to offer exciting experiences in ways people weren’t expecting.”
Druschitz emphasizes that Edlong’s cutting-edge technologies aren’t the only tools in our toolbox.
“The experience of our global team helps us hone and dial in on the exact profile a consumer is searching for. We’re able to analyze the different notes and make sure they work in the formulation as a balanced system. It could require tweaking levels of ingredients like acid or sodium, or incorporating taste technologies you might not expect.”
“It’s also about getting down to the nuts and bolts and creating a solution that is tailored to the specific system. We might have an ideal profile, but it’s in a powder. We will find a way to customize that solution to a format that works best for that particular product.”
With time being of the essence, rapid iteration and prototyping can be the edge developers need.
Extensive experience, mastery of a broad portfolio of taste technologies, and a deep understanding of project needs enable Edlong’s team to quickly provide customized solutions, helping partners cut through the noise and deliver on-trend products to the market on time.
Experience the evolution of functional sweet brown flavors for yourself!
Contact our team of experts today.