BEVERAGE FLAVORS – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WRITTEN BY SEGMENT TEAM

 

What is ZoomEssence passionate about?

Zoom, for short, is passionate about bringing authenticity back to the taste experience. Just look at our founder’s story, our management team has been on a 40+ year vision quest to deliver authentic aroma in a powdered state. Whether liquid or powder…aroma and taste should not be sacrificed.

 

What is the difference between spray dried powder flavors and CoolZoom powder flavors? Isn’t a powder just a powder?

No, powders are not all created the same way. For the past 150 years liquids have been converted to powders using either traditional spray dried or freeze-dried technology. Our low temperature drying system has been deemed a disruptive technology by the US Department of Energy. ZoomEssence’s patented (9 patents and more coming) and proprietary, CoolZoom technology is the difference! CoolZoom technology converts liquids to powders without the use of high heat, just physics.

 

Why is low temperature drying so important in flavors?

It is all about materials that are sensitive to light, heat and air and the retention of volatiles. Both high heat and freezing cold process conditions used in traditional spray dry and freeze dry technology respectively damages liquids to the point that critical consumer markers, aroma and taste are lost. At ambient temperatures the volatile chemicals that provide aroma and taste are retained! Welcome back aroma and taste.

 

Are there any other benefits?

Yes, several.

• Without losing 30-40% of the volatiles each flavor particle has more flavor oil per particle resulting in a more concentrated flavor. Translation, lower use rate equals cost savings.
• Particles are not damaged during the drying process. No cracks or fissures in the particle like in traditional spray dry. What does that mean? Better protection against oxidation which is the biggest culprit in powder discoloration and aroma loss.

• Improved encapsulation of the starting oil, which means we have almost zero surface oil, better flow properties and improved solubility.
• Process is sustainable using significantly less water than technologies of the past.
• Applications? The applications are endless! Think any product in the middle aisles of the supermarket that use dry powder flavors. Everything from health and wellness products to RTD, bakery, confectionary and more.

 

What types of applications are CoolZoom flavors best in? Powdered or Ready to Drink (RTD) applications?

CoolZoom flavors can be used across nearly all beverage applications. While functional powder beverages have been our sweet spot since the company’s inception, over the past several years our business has grown, and we’ve expanded to flavoring a wide variety of Ready-to-Drink (RTD) beverages. We can make RTD beverages taste amazing, even better, we can deliver aroma!

 

What types of services does ZoomEssence provide for powdered beverages?

Zoom provides turnkey customized flavor development from flavor creation to powder beverage application (Customer does active base development).

Types of applications include: Proteins (dairy and plant based), BCAAs, Pre/Intra/Post workouts, Hydration, Mass Gainer, Meal Replacement Products, Creatine, CBD, adaptogens, and more.

 

Powdered beverages are our sweet spot and where we excelled for most of the initial start-up of the company. That is……. until we devoted the resources to understand the value proposition across other segments ie RTD, bakery, bars and more.

 

What types of services does ZoomEssence provide for RTD beverages?

• Turnkey, customized finished beverage development:
• Still drinks tocarbonated;juices to teas, enhanced waters to energy drinks, protein shakes to coffees
• Proven Experience! – 35+ years of experience in house custom beverage development and successful commercialization bringing dozens of brands to the market
• Full Service, State of the Art Beverage Processing! – Pilot Plant scaleMicro–thermicsprocessor & in-line homogenizer = close simulation of commercial processing conditions for:
• Cold Fill Preserved,
• Flash/HTST/Tunnel Pasteurization,
• Hot Fill,
• UHT (indirect & direct steam) and (near) aseptic filling,
• Retort.
• Flexibility to produce prototypes for virtually all commercially used configurations, temperature & hold times, etc. etc.
• Complete Formula Transparency! – Customer owns the formulas!

 

What are some of the benefits of using CoolZoom flavors over liquid flavors at the bench in RTD applications?

• Zoom flavors tend to hold up better pre and post processing, eliminating the need for substantial amounts of overages typically required with other liquid flavors.
• Utilizing flavors with lower use rates provides flexibility in formulation.
• Cost in use is, in most cases, so competitive it provides tremendous flexibility when flavoring including being able to use very expensive high-quality materials other flavor houses could not make work economically

 

Explain why CoolZoom® flavors work versus liquid flavors.

We have found, and patented, that our Zooming® low temperature drying process retains up to 100% of the starting oil, so you don’t sacrifice quality by going to a CoolZoom powder. We make an emulsion using starches and dextrins while liquid flavors must use expensive and cumbersome diluents to deliver the same flavor actives. CoolZoom delivers stronger, better protected flavors resulting in lower use rates and minimal overages giving you lower costs in use.

 

Why use CoolZoom flavors over liquid flavors in an RTD setting?

Our Zooming® process creates a superior drying environment which protects the starting oil from the get-go, this protection results in an amazing encapsulation delivering authentic aroma and as measured by improved density and solubility. This efficient delivery matrix can be seen by lower overages, improved post processing flavor profiles and improved stability. Furthermore, in order to get liquid flavors to solubilize diluents are required, like alcohols and Propylene Glycol which affect use rates, aroma and ultimately taste.

 

What kinds of flavor tools does Zoom have for beverages?

Bitter blockers, masking keys, sweetness enhancers, dairy enhancers, anti-foaming agents, salt enhancers, and more.

 

In the beverage space we have worked on almost every conceivable project from exceptionally bitter products (i.e. caffeine, teacrine, aminos, CBD) to innocuous powdered soft drinks. We have also worked on teas, coffees, adaptogens/botanicals, terpenes, and many more. Powder on powder projects or powder displacing liquid, we have found the same superior results. The tools have been a tremendous asset.

 

How strong can you make your flavors?

Our patented Zooming® process creates profitable advantages in our flavors and we typically see that our flavors are 2-4 times stronger than other powdered flavors and 5-7 times stronger than liquid flavors. We can further concentrate (7-10x) our CoolZoom flavor to meet your needs, by increasing the ‘flavor load’ in our Zooming® low temperature drying process.

 

What different types of CoolZoom flavors do you offer?

Zoom’s flavors for beverages run the gamut. We offer a variety of flavor profiles from sweet and indulgent to acidic and fruity, as well as savory or single sourced essential oils! Our flavors can cut clear or provide just the right balance of opaqueness to meet the customers targeted profile. We deliver highly concentrated, highly aromatic flavors that will tickle your gustatory receptor cells.

 

Can Zoom match flavors?

The simple answer is yes. Zoom can match liquid flavors since we can provide liquid quality in a powder form. However matching powders are more of a challenge as traditional spray dried flavors are altered from its initial liquid state. For example, if we took the same starting liquid and had one toll spray-dried and the other sent through the Zooming process we would have 2 very different performing powders. However, given our certified flavorists, application specialists and sensory team we are confident we can get very close with powder flavor matches, what we like to say is equal to or “Better”.

 

Can you achieve EU or specific country compliance with CoolZoom flavors?

Yes. In many instances we have an advantage since many liquid flavors require propylene glycol and the EU limits propylene glycol usage to less than 0.1%. CoolZoom can avoid using propylene glycol.

 

What is Zoom’s lead time and Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)?

Every customized Zoom flavor is made to order and just in time manufacturing. Our lead time for first-time production is 4 to 5 weeks while lead time for additional orders is 3 weeks. Our MOQ is 20 Kgs and our pack size are 10 Kg Boxes. Stocking Agreements are Available.

 

Why Zoom? I have a core vendor list with a large stable flavor houses who all claim to have the best tasting flavors, what makes Zoom so special?

Game changing and disruptive innovation. A lost art in most beverage development is the ability for flavors (both liquid and powder) to deliver authentic aroma. Whether it be in a powder product that has historically relied upon utilizing flavors which have been high heat spray-dried that flashes off aroma during the drying process or an RTD beverage that utilizes liquid flavors with substantial amounts of diluents, both struggle with delivering aroma. Not with CoolZoom flavor-drying technology. To put it simply we are different. A more efficient delivery system of actives translates into authentic aroma and taste at a lower cost.