Cheddar cheese flavours for savoury products

Synergy, a flavours and ingredients manufacturer and supplier, has launched a new range of Cheddar cheese flavour products.

The result of extensive market analysis and sensory testing, the range has been designed to improve flavour delivery in a wide variety of applications – from savoury pastries to ready meals – and overcome a variety of key technical and processing challenges faced by manufacturers when working with cheese.

Cheddar cheese is the market-leading cheese profile in the UK’s savoury food category, with 68% of cheese-based product launches between January 2012 and June 2013 featuring a Cheddar declaration. Based on overall category sales, Mature Cheddar is the most popular profile within the Cheddar cheese segment.

Developed through a detailed sensory and analytical evaluation of the key aroma and taste active compounds of Mature Cheddar cheese, the product range has been designed to provide enhanced flavour delivery, based on market-leading flavour profiles, which can be tailored to meet exacting application requirements. Offering a number of performance advantages over block cheese, the range can help manufacturers reduce the processing challenges associated with handling cheese, minimise the risk of boil out during heat treatment, and stabilise formulation costs against fluctuations in cheese prices. The natural product range is 100% traceable and can be declared simply as cheese or natural flavour.

Ciaran Lynch, R&D manager at Synergy, comments. “Mature Cheddar cheese is an enduringly popular flavour in the UK, both in terms of sales of block cheese and also in its prominent use in cheese-based savoury products. However, we recognised that the rich, lasting flavour profile consumers associate with Mature Cheddar can sometimes be difficult to deliver in applications such as pasties and sauces. Our new range of flavour solutions helps boost the taste performance of Mature Cheddar cheese.

He continues, “We engaged in a significant programme of product testing and sensory analysis to understand exactly what consumers look for and enjoy in Mature Cheddar profiles, and to develop solutions that can help manufacturers deliver an authentic taste and aroma that meets these expectations. The resulting range of versatile and flexible Cheddar cheese flavour solutions will allow manufacturers across savoury categories to easily and cost-effectively develop appealing products that provide an impactful and satisfying flavour in every bite.”