Virginia Dare has announced the expansion of its sensory and health & wellness teams to help food, beverage and supplement brands develop consumer-validated products that combine appealing flavours with functional benefits.
The New Jersey-based flavour specialist will be showcasing applications developed by its expanded teams at this year's SupplySide Global, at Booth #3465.
The samples span protein nutrition, functional beverages and supplements, demonstrating how flavour development can support wellness-focused product innovation.
Virginia Dare’s sensory team evaluates how products taste, smell and feel to consumers, while its health & wellness specialists translate emerging ingredient research into relevant consumer benefits and claims.
“Consumers expect products to deliver on both taste and function,” said Philip Caputo, Marketing and Consumer Insights Manager at Virginia Dare.
Growing our sensory and health & wellness teams means we can validate a concept faster and with more confidence — confirming that it tastes great and holds up to the wellness claims consumers are looking for.
"It’s an investment in the kind of category leadership our partners rely on us for.”
The company’s showcase will include a Dubai chocolate-flavoured dairy protein bar providing 20g of protein per serving, a prebiotic fibre-enriched rainbow sherbet soda with no added sugar and an oat milk cold brew latte featuring the MYCO-GNITION mushroom blend.
Other concepts include a plant-based protein shake combining banana bread flavour with matcha, alongside mango dragon fruit collagen gummies, cherry limeade creatine gummies and mixed berry magnesium gummies.
Founded in 1923, Virginia Dare supplies flavourings, extracts and taste-modulation solutions for food, beverage and health & wellness applications.
Its expertise includes masking undesirable tastes associated with functional ingredients, such as plant proteins, botanicals and non-sugar sweeteners.
The expanded capabilities reflect the formulation challenge manufacturers face when trying to deliver functional ingredients without compromising taste.
Attendees can sample the applications and learn more about the company’s flavour development capabilities at Booth #3465 during SupplySide Global.
