Blending the Familiar with the Exotic in One Flavor System

There’s a flavor arms race in the food industry triggered by a rabid, young consumer base that wants more. More heat, more cheese, more intensity and more global flavors. They want more pushing boundaries and more likes on their social media posts documenting their “insane” eating experiences.

Takis was one of the first brands this new consumer segment embraced, vaulting the Mexican brand into the mainstream with flavors such as Buckin’ Ranch, Fuego, Chili Limón, Nacho Xplosion, Intense Nacho and Dragon Sweet Chili. More mainstream brands have followed suit, dedicating R&D efforts to mixing and mashing and fusing traditional flavors with bold, global flavors in unsuspecting combinations.

The winners and losers of the flavor arms race are constantly evolving as once popular fan favorites take a back seat to the latest and greatest, which then falls out of favor once the newest flavor combination hits store shelves.

It’s hard to keep up, unless you partner with Bluegrass Ingredients. Our Agile Kitchen™ team specializes in moving flavor forward by deftly balancing global and traditional flavors. In these fusion flavor platforms, our team seeks to combine the familiar with the exotic in a manner that encourages all consumers to purchase. It’s an important strategy to use as more global flavors go mainstream. There is still a large segment of consumers that are hesitant to try something new, especially if it sounds exotic. However, if you combine it with something familiar, they’ll bite.

Our culinary team’s focus on fusion has yielded some exceptional new flavor systems we’ve tried on everything from wing sauces to tortilla chips to popcorn. Our key to pushing flavor exploration in a manner that’s accessible to most consumers is to create flavors based on a combination of:

Dairy Seasonings: Cheese, ranch, sour cream and creamy dill seasonings
Citrus Powders: Lemon, lime, orange and pineapple
Global Cuisine / Spice Blend: From Hispanic to Korean to African, our culinary team is experienced using global cuisines

Here are some ideas of flavor systems we’ve been ideating using this method.

Spicy Ranch Tajín

Profile: Buttermilk tang with chili-lime kick
Ingredients: Tajín, ranch seasoning, lime powder
Applications: Snack seasoning blends, dips, tortilla chips

Korean Buffalo Cream

Profile: Sweet heat, umami, with creamy cooling citrus
Ingredients: Gochujang powder + orange powder + blue cheese or buttermilk seasoning
Applications: Wing sauces, creamy dressings, popcorn

Tropical Matcha Lassi