IFF launches IFF NEO™, a new canvas for citrus taste

Consumption of fruits and fruit flavors has become a significant trend in recent years. Citrus is considered to be one of the most preferred flavors by consumers, when it comes to refreshing beverages. Citrus flavors offer a broad spectrum of taste nuances as compared to any other fruit category and are consistently chosen for a wide range of applications; no other taste enjoys greater acceptance in the beverage industry. Thus, trending fruit flavors are expected to create huge opportunities for stakeholders in the global citrus flavors market.¹

While citrus is the most important taste profile in beverages, sometimes it can be challenging to work with the citrus essential oils, traditionally used to create citrus flavors. Environmental pressures, disease and pests can substantially affect global citrus crop yields and fruit quality. This in turn, can impact the quality of citrus, create supply-side challenges and impact cost.

“We’re alleviating global citrus sourcing challenges, offering our customers great-tasting, natural flavors with citrus taste that are more readily available,” said Karel Coosemans, global leader for IFF’s RE-MASTER CITRUS™ innovation program. “Our game-changing supply stability also removes the price volatility commonly seen with citrus-derived products.”

Coosemans continues: “In our quest to constantly improve and expand our portfolio – we start with consumer insights from our proprietary Panoptic framework, and look at what our customers need to address these consumer trends or needs before we start designing a new product or develop a new technology. On top of that we are always looking to improve or enhance existing solutions if there’s a clear customer benefit. In this case, we asked ourselves the question “Is it possible to create citrus flavor using other natural ingredients than citrus oil?”

Our industry already has many natural flavor solutions that do not depend on raw materials from the named fruit. This, however, has always been difficult to achieve for citrus tonalities, so we really focused on overall citrus taste. Our flavor designers and technologists took on the challenge of creating something entirely novel. These flavors are inspired by nature but created by artists. In the same way an artist has freedom of expression, we too gave each flavorist creative license to create the citrus tonality most suitable to their region.

Using consumer insights from around the globe, these experts designed a range of flavors with outstanding citrus taste, adapted to specific taste profiles in each region. The result is a natural flavor collection that was constructed like a piece of art: IFF NEO™.”

The IFF NEO™ collection of natural flavors with great citrus taste is developed for beverage applications and works equally well in liquid and dry formulations. Built using proprietary materials and technologies, IFF NEO™ citrus flavors are highly concentrated yet entirely free of citrus-derived molecules. Labeled as natural flavors, they are readily soluble in beverage applications and have greater stability than citrus-oil derived flavors, enabling a longer shelf life.

“As we developed IFF NEO™, it was important not only to address the consumer desire for great taste and natural ingredients,” said Coosemans. “We also wanted to make flavors with a low environmental impact by eliminating the need to depend on traditional citrus cultivation, subsequent essential oil processing and transportation.”

“We have seen great performance in beverages, confectionery, and even plant-based products. IFF NEO™ delivers potential benefits of higher concentration, different solvent system used, increased solubility and stability. These benefits are interesting for all end-uses, adds Coosemans. “The proof is in the taste, though. IFF NEO™ is available globally, so I encourage your audience to reach out to an IFF representative in their region or country for a tasting session.”