French flavor specialist Mane has consolidated a portfolio of natural aromatic ingredients sourced from the “shortest possible supply chain” under the banner Mane Source. 

The move taps into the “clear labeling” theme, which sees consumers expressing more interest in products that highlight wher its ingredients were sourced from without declarable additives. 

“Consumers are looking for clean and clear labels, so our customers are demanding more natural aromatic ingredients to flavor their finished products,” Ghislaine Gilliers, strategic marketing manager of flavors EMEA at Mane, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“The natural aromatic ingredients are part of Mane heritage. We’ve been honing extraction techniques from natural ingredients since 1871. We had many aromatic ingredients in our portfolio,” she continues.

“The most popular ones for the sweet applications are our vanilla extracts and our botanical and fruit infusions. For the savory applications, our concentrated vegetable juices and our new spice extracts with profiles true to freshly ground spices are the bestsellers.”

Exploring flavor complexities
Over the years, Mane has focused on developing various techniques to extract, concentrate and preserve flavor complexity in line with the properties and volatile substances naturally present in its raw materials.

Strawberry and vanilla are not extracted in the same way, for instance, and nor is this the case for vegetables and seafood, the company highlights.

“We have recently developed a new range of spice extracts (pepper, nutmeg, caraway) that are specifically intended for meat applications (fresh, cooked or dry) and culinary applications such as sauces and bases that bring freshly ground spice notes to these preparations,” adds Gilliers.

“We also have launched clean label beverages based on fruit infusions and botanical extracts.”

Cultivating culinary expertise
Mane’s flavorists and R&D teams explore various aromatic raw materials to create the ideal final product recipe in accordance with local regulations. 

Meanwhile, its sensory and consumer experts investigate how tastes differ from one culture to another to provide the authentic taste expected by global consumers.

“To develop innovative recipes and application concepts for the food industry, we rely on our Mane Chefs, as well as the work generated through partnerships with external culinary chefs, culinary schools and institutes,” Gilliers details.

“For instance, we have a privileged relationship with the international hotel school of Cesar Ritz Colleges. Our recipes and concepts are then tested in a lab and on a semi-industrial scale by our application specialists, in collaboration with our customers,” she continues.

Specific botanical varieties can lead to more delicious-tasting ingredients, and the organoleptic properties of ingredients are directly related to the terroir wher the raw materials grow, Mane notes. 

Scaling up sourcing
Mane’s raw materials expertise is rooted in partnerships with global agricultural producers who supply their local knowledge of the ideal ingredients. The flavor specialist has set up fair remuneration to contribute toward the sustainable development of their businesses.

The company has vertically integrated strategic supply chains for vanilla, mint, tea, botanicals, coffee, spices, fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat.

Mane holds a partnership with Floribis, which allows it to integrate into the Madagascar vanilla market. It has also partnered with Spanish fruit and vegetable producer Nufri, Ceylon tea supplier Akbar, and Agrival, a key partner specialized in vegetable processing.

Over the past few decades, Mane has pursued an active acquisition strategy. It has scaled up dedicated entities for specific raw materials, including seafood, vegetable and meat ingredients at Mane Queven, based in the heart of Brittany in France, as well as spices and mint at Mane Kancor, based in India. 

In January, the flavor house inked an exclusive deal with ingredient distributor Azelis to distribute its flavor and taste solutions in the Benelux region.