Bespoke products for an inimitable taste

Why do tobacco products need flavors?

Andreas Briel: Every manufacturer wishes to make their tobacco, vaping or hemp products inimitable in order to position themselves in existing or new markets. This requires bespoke flavors. First of all, they serve to give tobacco products an individual flavor and a characteristic identity. Secondly, as a manufacturer you can use flavorings to compensate for negative aspects of tobacco as a natural product and improve it.

What does a typical client flavor project look like?

Andreas Briel: A typical client project comprises reference development with taste balancing, for example. During this process, we analyze the client’s target flavor using gas chromatographymass spectrometry. A flavorist next develops the result further. The newly developed flavor is then fine-tuned using sensory development, the nose and tests on final products.

What is moving the market right now? What trends do you see for the future?

Andreas Briel: Long-established products such as cigarettes and hookah still account for most of our work worldwide. However, there is a trend in more and more countries towards tobacco products for oral use or products with biodegradable filters. As far as the future is concerned, we generally expect a market with traditional combustion products to continue to exist. Nevertheless, trends are increasingly moving towards THP products, oral products and more environmentally friendly products.