Baking & Snack - July 2006 - 87

ganic processing requirements. When
processing organic vanilla, Mother
Murphy's must segregate organic
and non-organic tanks, Mr. Murphy
said. Organic caramel color can only
be Class 1, or the lightest of the four
classes of caramel color, said Mr. Merryweather. Organic rules limit the use
of processing aids to darken the caramel color.
Organic flavor and color suppliers
generally find few difficulties in meeting demand, but some must purchase
ingredients outside the US. D.D. Williamson uses only US cane sugar for the
production of its organic caramel color.
The use of corn syrup as a raw material
proves difficult because of the crosspollination problems involving fields of
genetically modified corn.
"We like to buy domestically, but some
things aren't available," Mr. Sgro said.
The increasing supply of ingredients
for use in organic products this year
may remind some of 2004 when there
was a build-up of the low-carb ingredients supply. Others see a difference:

Organic demand is worldwide; the
low-carbohydrate phenomena stayed
mainly in North America.

Culinary Center
Lists Trends

COLORFUL ADDITIONS
Besides whole grains and organic,
Mr. Sgro sees one other trend in using
colors in grain-based foods. Restaurants are adding more color to their
plates, not just in desserts but also in
side dishes. Colored tortilla chips are
showing up next to soups, and colored wraps have become popular at
many restaurants.
"Color enhances the consumer's
perception of taste," Mr. Sgro said. "In
regard to pale or dark (color), people
immediately assume the darker is
stronger in flavor."
For another flavor trend, Mastertaste's Mr. Riley said customers are asking for "super fruits," or those high in
antioxidant content such as blueberries
and pomegranates. Mr. Murphy added
that exotic flavors remain a trend along
with customer desire for the fusion or
combination of flavors.
Ⅲ

The Center for Culinary Development,
a San Francisco, CA-based new
product development company, assists
food and beverage clients with new
product innovations. Kara Nielsen,
trends analyst manager for the
center, and Marc Halperin, culinary
director and partner, said they see the
following flavor and color trends in
grain-based foods:
* Americans are eager to explore
bold flavors. Many mainstream chips
are coming in hotter and spicier flavors
such as the habanero-flavored Doritos.
* Manufacturers are expanding
cheese flavors in chips. Two popular
cheese flavors are gorgonzola
and machego.
* "Super fruits," or nutritionally
rich fruits containing antioxidants,
are popular. They include acai,
blueberries, guava, guarana,
pomegranate, mangosteen, kiwifruit,
apples and pears.

Exploring Hispanic Flavors
Virginia Dare, Brooklyn, NY, introduced its
Hispanic Consumer Insights Program at
the Institute of Food Technologists Annual
Meeting and Food Expo held in Orlando
during late June.
The program focused on the taste
preferences of the fastest-growing segment
of the US population. According to the 2004
US census, approximately 41.3 million
documented Hispanics live in the US,
comprising 14% of the US population.
This expanding group comprises a variety
of countries of origin, ancestries and racial
and ethnic groups that includes: Mexican,
Puerto Rican, Central American, South
American, Cuban, Dominican, Spanish and
other nonspecified Hispanic origins. Thus,
not all Hispanic consumers will choose
the same food patterns, preferences and
traditions. For example, in Mexico most
vanilla is artificial in origin and has a more
floral flavor than natural vanillas. Other
Hispanic consumers indicated a stronger
preference for Papua New Guinea, Tahitiantype vanilla than non-Hispanics.
Other factors in consumer behavior are
acculturation and assimilation. Acculturation

92 / BAKING & SNACK / July 2006

involves blending favored preferences from
both the birth country and current country of
residence, and the process of assimilation
rejects the behaviors and traditions from
the country of origin and replaces them
with traditions of the new country. These
factors are important as grain-based foods
manufacturers create products and flavors
for the growing Hispanic consumer group
and Hispanic-inspired products for the
mainstream American consumer.
Virginia Dare's consumer marketing factors
include demographics, lifestyle, ancestry,
length of US residence, language preference,
shopping behavior and level of acculturation.
Virginia Dare added a note of cultural
authenticity with a replication of a Mexican
"panaderia" or small neighborhood bakery.
IFT visitors sampled pineapple empanadas
with natural pineapple flavor WONF, dulce
de leche cookie bars with natural flavor for
dulce de leche and guava genoise cake with
all-natural guava flavor WONF and 2-fold
pure Bourbon vanilla extract. In keeping with
tradition, panaderia visitors chose the baked
foods from multiple racks using tongs to
make each selection.

Demand for organic vanilla continues to
exceed the demand for natural vanilla.
Many flavor companies now offer 100%
organic vanilla flavors.
Virginia Dare

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