• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Business Directory
    • Buyers | Licensees
    • Sellers | Ancillary Businesses
    • Submit Product & Service Press Release
  • CBE Exchange
  • CBE Jobs Exchange
  • Events
  • Featured Videos
  • Product & Service Press Releases
  • Sponsored Polls
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Archived Webinars
  • Whitepapers

Cannabis Business Executive - Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

Recreational, Medical, Marijuana, Cannabis, And Hemp News for Cannabis Businesses

  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Google+
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Subscribe to our RSS feed
Newsletter 2
  • Home
  • Policy & Legal
    • Hemp Business Executive
    • International
      • Canada
      • Mexico
      • Israel
    • US A to F
      • Alabama
      • Alaska
      • Arizona
      • Arkansas
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Connecticut
      • Delaware
      • District of Columbia
      • Florida
    • US G to M
      • Georgia
      • Hawaii
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Idaho
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Kentucky
      • Louisiana
      • Maine
      • Maryland
      • Massachusetts
    • US M to N
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Mississippi
      • Missouri
      • Montana
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
    • US O to V
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • Rhode Island
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Vermont
    • US V to W
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
      • Guam
      • Puerto Rico
  • Industry News
    • Advertising, Marketing, PR & Research
    • Banking, Finance & Real Estate
    • Compliance and Regulations
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Retailers
    • Hemp Business Executive
    • HR and Staffing
    • North Of The Border
    • Industry People/On the Move
    • Packaging and Supplies
    • Press Releases
    • Processors
    • Producers
    • Security Solutions
    • Science and Technology
    • South Of The Border
  • CBE Lists
    • Ancillary Businesses
      • 2019 CBE Ancillary Business Survey CLICK HERE
      • 2018 CBE 155 A/B
      • 2017 CBE 150 A/B
      • 2016 CBE 100 A/B
    • Producers, Processors, Retailers
      • 2017 CBE 200 PPRs
      • 2015 CBE 100 PPRs
    • Industry Women
      • Glass Ceiling Wreckers: 2019 CBE Power Women of Cannabis
      • 2017 CBE 75 Most Important Women
      • 2016 CBE Top 50 Women
      • 2014 CBE Most Influential Women
    • Most Important Companies
      • 2016 CBE 10 Most Important Companies
      • 2014 CBE 10 Most Important Companies
    • Political 100
      • 2017 CBE Political 100
      • 2016 CBE 100 Political
      • 2014 CBE Political 50
    • 2014 CBE 100 Most Important People
    • CBE RFP Hotlists
      • 2014 CBE Lab Testing Services HotList
      • 2016 BHO Extraction Equipment
      • 2016 CBE Supercritical CO2 Extraction Equipment
      • 2016 CBE Security Solutions
      • 2016 Edibles & Infused Products
  • Company Stories
    • Up and Comers
  • Hemp Business Executive
    • Hemp Policy & Legal
    • Hemp Industry News
    • Hemp State Regulatory Agencies
  • Newsletters
    • CBE Week
    • CBE Human Capital Management
    • CBE Technology & Solutions
    • CBE Policy and Legal Update
    • CBE Product and Service Announcements
  • Op-Ed
    • Cartoons
    • The Buck Stops Here
    • Opinions
    • Comments
  • Associations
  • State Regulatory Agencies
    • Marijuana
    • Hemp
  • Contact
  • AB Survey
  • About Us
  • Account
  • Accounting Services
  • Advertise
  • Advertising, PR & Marketing
  • All Cannabis News
  • Ancillary Business Survey 2018
  • Ancillary Business Survey 2019
  • Archived Webinars
  • Associations & Organizations
  • Banking & Payment Processing
  • Better Start for the Glass Ceiling in this Industry, CBE’s Most Influential Women
  • Book Reviews
  • Business Directory
  • Business Directory Introduction
  • Business Directory Listing
  • Business Directory Manage
  • Business Directory Registration Info
  • Business Directory Welcome
  • Call for speakers
  • Cannabis Investments
  • Cart
  • CBE Exchange
  • CBE HotLists
    • CBE Lab Testing Services HotList 2014
  • CBE Lists
  • CBE Political 50
  • CBE Press LLC Privacy Statement
  • CBE Press News
  • Checkout
  • Consulting Services
  • Consumption Gear
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Contributors
  • Create Your Product & Service Press Release
  • Creative Submission
  • Cultivation Products & Services
  • Current Poll
  • Edible & Infused Products
  • Editor’s Page
  • Email Whitelisting Instructions
  • Event Listing Questionaire
  • Featured Videos
  • Funding Options
  • Hemp State Regulatory List
  • Home
  • Human Capital Management Newsletters
  • Industry Jobs
  • Join the CBE Business Directory
  • Join the Directory
  • Lab Testing Regulations
  • Lab Testing Services
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Marijuana State Regulatory Contacts
  • Marijuana Tax Facts
  • Media Kit
  • Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions
  • Members
  • MJ Media Kit
  • Most Popular Stories
  • Most Read Stories
  • New Product & Service Listings Welcome
  • News Releases
  • Newsletters
    • Ask CBE
    • CBE Human Capital Management
    • CBE Policy and Legal Update
    • CBE Product and Service Announcements
    • CBE Technology & Solutions
    • CBE Week
  • On the Move
  • Organizations & Associations
  • Packaging & Supplies
  • Password Reset
  • Policy & Legal
  • PPR Survey
  • Product Releases
  • Profile Update
  • Register
  • Security Solutions
  • Software & Technology
  • Sponsored Polls
  • State Cannabis Product Packaging Requirements
  • Terms of Service
  • Thank You
  • The Most Influential People in the Cannabis Industry, The Cannabis Business Executive 100
  • Training & Educational Services
  • Upcoming Webinars
  • User
  • Whitepapers
  • WV Senate passes medical marijuana bill to House
  • Categories
  • Locations
  • My Bookings
You are here: Home / Industry News / Processors / Best Practices for Selecting a Flavor House for your Infused Product

Best Practices for Selecting a Flavor House for your Infused Product

June 8, 2020 by Lauren Tamburro Leave a Comment

By Lauren Tamburro

Whether you are noshing on candy from a household name brand or sipping on a craft small-batch beverage, it’s a near certainty that a “flavor house” formulated the flavor profile of what you’re eating or drinking. And with the increased innovation and popularity of hemp and cannabis-infused products, from drinks to edibles, it’s more important than ever for brands to stand out and maximize quality by choosing to work with a professional flavor house that best fits their respective needs and goals. Making this selection wisely is also particularly important for hemp and cannabis infused product makers in order to inspire consumer confidence and erase the stigma that edibles and infused beverages are more plant-tasting fuel, rather than delicious food and drinks.

Here are nine key guidelines for selecting a flavor house for your infused product:

Identify the Type of Development Service

Understand the services you need – or don’t need.  If your company is at the beginning of the development process, you may want to partner with a flavor house that also offers full-scale product development for consumer-packaged goods with additional services. These additional services may include creating the nutrition fact panel, submission for certifications, and recommendations on co-packing partners. It can also be beneficial to look for specialized flavor houses that focus specifically on your type of product – like baked goods, confection items or beverages.

Get Familiar with Flavor Varieties

Decide on the distinct flavors you want for your cannabis or hemp infused product.  For example, there is a big difference between a true to fruit flavor, like a ripe banana with a few brown spots, compared to a candy banana flavor. Questions you can ask yourself during your search include: does the flavor house offer off the shelf flavors, extracts and essences? Does the flavor house offer custom development services to create a custom liquid or powdered flavor? You will also want to voice any concerns around any off-tasting notes in your product. For example, you can request a bitter blocker to mask an undesired flavor from a functional ingredient. Typically, most flavor houses will not charge a fee for custom development if you meet the minimum order quantity.

In addition, some flavor houses offer training courses (both remote and in-person) to help you learn the industry vocabulary for describing how items taste. If you’re a first-time product developer, seek out this valuable training so you can provide more useful feedback when going through the flavor selection process. You can also check if the company provides “flavor wheels” that can help guide you in identifying what flavor profile you’re looking for.

Know the Flash Point of the Flavors

Flavors have volatiles; these are part of what makes them taste great. The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature at which its vapors ignite if given an ignition source. You will need to know the flash point of the flavors you are receiving from the selected flavor house; this information should then be relayed to your manufacturing partner so they can properly store your flavors. Many flavors are kept in an explosion proof ventilated cabinet, as they have low flash points, while others can be refrigerated.

Work in Tandem with Your Infusion Partner

It is prudent to choose your hemp or cannabis infusion partner prior to or in parallel with the flavor house. Different cannabis ingredients and strains, such as hemp-derived CBD versus THC from the marijuana plant, will have vastly different inherent flavors. To set yourself and the flavor house up for success, you may need to provide them the cannabis ingredient you plan to use in your product. If you do not opt for this route and first develop a formula with the desired flavor profile before deciding on the infusion, modifications may be needed to get your product back to its desired flavor profile. This unfortunately may delay your product’s launch, as it requires additional time and rounds of flavor development.

Plan for Flavor Loss and Shelf Life Issues

Some beverage and food products lose the impact of their flavors over time, as the volatiles are lost. It is important to be aware of this phenomenon before finalizing a flavor formula because it may be necessary to add more flavor to an infused product to account for this loss. Typically, one to two months aging is a good time point to taste an infused product and ensure the flavor level has been maintained.

Each flavor, extract and essence will have a different shelf life, so it is important to know the expiration of each of your selected flavors. Work with your flavor house to determine the shelf life for both the unopened and opened packaging. You must also be able to understand what happens before, during and after shipment of the finished product. Will there be any effects if products are shipped together? For example, mint is notorious for flavor migration through packaging from one product to another.

Meet the Minimum Order Quantity
Know how much flavor you need to order up front to meet the launch plan and expected demand for your product. The size of your order may limit your choice of flavor houses willing to work with you.  Some flavor houses require a minimum order quantity that can be relatively high. This is a critical question to ask early on to ensure if they’re a good fit for your business.

Determine Turn Around Times
Before signing on the dotted line, ask your potential flavor house: what is your turnaround time from request to delivery for samples and production? An average TAT for a custom flavor development is typically around four weeks, so be sure to build that into your production schedule. For a full-scale production, you will need to build in a lead time between 2 to 16 weeks depending on the flavor you select and quantity you require.

Flavor Certifications
Once you select a flavor house and formally engage them, make sure you share any certifications you plan to pursue for your infused product. Different types of certifications that may be required and/or desired include Kosher, Organic and non-GMO certified options.

Respect Label Boundaries
Request guidance from your chosen Flavor House regarding what front and back of pack claims can be made on the final product label, plus do your own research as well, especially since product label regulations and restrictions can vary wildly by state. This request goes hand in hand with the request for flavors that can be certified.  Examples of common claims made on labels include:

  • Extracts only (vanilla extract)
  • Type Flavor (vanilla type flavor)
  • With other natural flavors aka WONF (vanilla with other natural flavors)
  • Artificial flavor (artificial vanilla)
  • Natural flavor
  • Organic flavor
  • Vegan flavor

Selecting a Flavor House can be a strenuous process for an emerging infused product brand but following these steps and guidelines can help to avoid potential issues, challenges and delays with getting your cannabis product to market. The field is competitive, and choosing the partner that can best formulate the desired taste for your beverage or edible will help to set your brand apart from the pack.

Filed Under: Processors, Science and Technology Tagged With: Flavor House, infused products

About Lauren Tamburro

Lauren Tamburro is the Director of Technical Services and Sales, for Vertosa, a hemp and cannabis technology company providing customized emulsion systems for infused products. She is an expert in new product development, managing projects from concept to commercialization, plant scale-up and the product development process. Prior to joining Vertosa, Lauren performed analytical chemistry for six years and as Senior Scientist began launching new food products at Mondelez International, primarily focused on chewing gum. As Senior Manager of Research and Development at ALOHA she launched plant-based protein bars, powders and aseptic ready to drink beverages.

 

Primary Sidebar

Ad: Sidebar 1

Featured Video

Associations & Organizations

clearing div

Ad: Sidebar 2

Business Directory

Ad: Skyscraper 1

CBE Jobs Exchange


Featured Jobs
Go
Post a Job
More jobs
Powered by CBEJobsExchange.com

RSS Recent Jobs

  • Hearing Officers (Apply by Feb. 5th) - The Broward County Attorney's Office - Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Field Service Engineer Agilent GC/MS - VRS Recruitment - , MA
  • Business Development Officer - Specialty Ag - Bank Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

Product & Service Press Releases

Ad: Sidebar 3

CBE Events

Ad: Sidebar 4

State Regulatory Agencies

Ad: Skyscraper 2

Webinars

Ad: Sidebar 5

Associations & Organizations

Ad: Sidebar 6

Featured Video

Ad: Skyscraper 3

Business Directory

Ad: Sidebar 7

CBE Jobs Exchange

Ad: Sidebar 8

CBE Events

Ad: Skyscraper 4

Industry Blogs



Footer

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • CBE Press LLC Privacy Statement
  • Contribute
  • Contributors
  • Newsletters
  • Terms of Service
  • Contributor Login
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Google+
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Subscribe to our RSS feed
Newsletter 2

© Copyright 2020 CBE PRESS LLC. - All Rights Reserved. Cannabis Business Executive Is A Trademark Of CBE PRESS LLC. · All Rights Reserved · And Our Sitemap · All Logos & Trademarks Belong To Their Respective Owners·