Food Processing - November 2007 - (Page 28)

SPICES spices, herbs and seasoning blends drawn from agricultural communities around the world.” A matter of tradition Dhiraj Arora understands the signature tastes of Indian cuisine. He learned the subtle art by watching his mother prepare homemade spice blends. With Indian foods and restaurants fast becoming popular in the U.S., it was a small leap for the entrepreneur to see the value in providing authentic Indian spice blends to those without the time or knowledge to create them. In 2001, Arora launched Arora Creations Inc. (www. aroracreations.com), New York. Its mission is to provide consumers with master Indian spice blend recipes to prepare healthy, convenient Indian dishes in minutes. Asian traditions stimulated much of the research into the health beneﬁts of spices and led innovative ingredient providers to recreate the feeling of tradition in modern formulations. “Mastertaste’s oleoresins are standardized, liquid spice and herb extracts that contain volatile and nonvolatile components,” says Karen Manheimer, vice president of the Natural Products Div. at Mastertaste (www.mastertaste.com), Teterboro, N.J. “They add uniform color, ﬂavor, aroma and impact to many of our customers’ formulations. “Many processors prefer oleoresins to whole herbs and spices because they are more concentrated and have a longer shelf life, yet still achieve the desired ﬂavor proﬁ le,” Manheimer continues. “Oleoresins also offer instant ﬂavor release and dispersion. You don’t need to bite into a spice particle to get the ﬂavor.” The lure of spice runs throughout the food industry. “We are seeing many of our customers drawn to experiment with ethnic ﬂavor proﬁ les – the latest being Indian and Moroccan,” continues Manheimer. “The spices typical to these cuisines cover a wide range of ﬂavors and include cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili and garlic. “Flavors from tandoori and curry, for example, have seen an increase in popularity recently,” she continues. “These spices have high levels of phytochemicals, and so offer health beneﬁts in addition to the exotic ﬂavor consumers are looking for.” Our spicy roots can be felt along the entire food chain. “Consumers are looking to bring their restaurant and travel experiences home by duplicating exotic ﬂavors and ethnic dishes,” says Tania Biswas, senior brand manager at The Spice Hunter (www.spicehunter.com), San Luis Obispo, Calif. “They’re also interested in where their spices come from – the more authentic the source the better. We have a number of new products tying into these trends, including smoked paprika inspired by Spanish dishes.” The new Spice Hunter Flavor Discoveries line, which hit retail shelves in September, offers South American, Mediterranean and Asian ﬂavors in blends and rubs. The top sellers from the collection include Turkish Cumin, French Thyme, Spices and other ﬂavorings are not only riding the “good for you” trend wave but extending their reach into the mega-hot organic trend. Red Pepper, Herbes de Provence, Basil and Highland Harvested Saigon Cinnamon. Also, organic spices grew by 21 percent over last year. The consumer factor As with all food and beverage categories, the recent consumer organic consciousness has inﬂuenced the spice world. “Consumers committed to buying organics are always looking for organic alternatives for everyday needs,” says Brett Karminski, brand manager for Frontier Natural Products Co-op (www. frontiercoop.com), Norway, Iowa. “Organic spices and seasonings provide consumers with great tasting and sustainable options to ﬂavor their meals. “Two major trends driving growth in the seasonings category are ethnic and hot and spicy,” continues Karminski. “As more consumers venture into cooking at home, they are expanding their culinary horizons and looking to add heat to their spicy dishes. For example, sales of cayenne pepper grew at an annual rate of 42 percent during the past 12 months.” “The consumer’s request for convenience is one of the main factors contributing to increased product selection in the seasonings category,” says Kory Kazimour, Simply Organic senior brand manager at Frontier Natural Products. As consumers look for more convenient ways to prepare meals, they are drawn to products that eliminate the time and complexity of creating great tasting dishes. “Media attention on healthy eating and meal preparation has contributed to the growth of spices and seasoning mixes. The more you can show consumers how to use seasonings, the more likely they are to experiment with exotic ﬂavors,” adds Kazimour. The drive toward using spices more – and more spices – in formulations can be part of a natural desire to return to more comforting, sustaining foods. Consumers are picking up on that and on their ethnic traditions to use spices to create new eating preferences. Processors can take advantage of the extensive variety of ﬂavor and marketing possibilities available in this healthful ingredient category. WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM MORE ON THE WEB Spice up your knowledge base of spices on www.foodprocessing. com. Type “spice” into the search box and you’ll discover more than 160 articles, products and news items on the topic. 28 • FOOD PROCESSING NOVEMBER 2007 PHOTO: SIMPLY ORGANIC INC. http://www.aroracreations.com http://www.aroracreations.com http://www.mastertaste.com http://www.frontiercoop.com http://www.frontiercoop.com http://www.spicehunter.com http://www.spicehunter.com http://WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM http://WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM http://WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM

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Food Processing - November 2007 Contents Editor's Page NewsBites Regulatory Rollout Food Biz Kids Our Favorite Products of 2007 Ingredients Product Development Plant Operations Packaging New Product Profiles Toops Scoops

Food Processing - November 2007

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