New heat intensities and flavours

　　WI T H a p o r t f o l i oof natural sauces,s p i c e s , a n d h e r be x t r a c t s , K a l s e cmakes it convenientfor customers to add colour, flavour, andshelf life to products, and in effect, cutdevelopment and production time.

　　“We came up with a heat-up strategyusing our range of specialty peppers tooffer different heat intensity from anchos,guajillo, habanero, and ghost pepper. Thelatter is now one of the hottest specialtypeppers that we have,” said Kathleen Koh,managing director at Kalsec Asia PacificPte Ltd, during an interview at Fi Asiawhere the company put the spotlight on itshot and spicy flavourings for Asian markets.

　　Kalsec showcased several of theirheat management solutions in finishedfoods, including their Szechuan flavourblend in potato sticks and their Kimchispice in a fish snack which combinedspicy, sour and umami flavors. Spicycoated peanuts featuring their ghostpepper extract provided a slow build-upof heat, while the soft candy available totaste highlighted their cardamom citrusblend and their indulgent heat blend.

　　Better collaborationKalsec doesn’t stop with just offeringa wide range of ingredients； rather the company’s experts create blends thatare based on a customer’s needs. Singleextracts can be created into tom yam,kimchi, and different types of curry.

　　“We work alongside customers inmaking their products look better, tastebetter and last longer naturally,” shesaid. “Our flavours include garlic, blackpepper, and capsicum, while our naturalcolours consist of paprika, annatto, andthe carrot colours.”

　　“Customers can come out with newflavours very quickly. Generally, tomake tom yam, you’ll need a numberof ingredients. With Kalsec tom yam,however, you just need to buy one stockkeeping unit or SKU. The minimumorder is pretty small as well at 3.4 kilos.

　　A lot of our customers use our productsto go into the quick service restaurants(QSR) market. The QSRs come outwith new formulation within one to twomonths. With blends we call our culinarycollection, we enable clients to come outwith new flavors very quickly.”

　　Meeting demand for qualityIngredients are largely produced in thecompany’s U.S. facilities for quality reasons.Customers who prefer to use naturalcolours tend to have issues with fadingafter a period of time. This happensespecially in Asia where heat and humidityimpact colour and flavour. To mitigate theissue, Kalsec uses rosemary antioxidantsto prevent fading by up to 20% longer, andretain the flavours as well.

　　Kalsec is the first company tocommercialise rosemary as antioxidants,so most of its shelf life extenders arerosemary-based.

　　“We invest between 7% and 10%back into R&D. Since consumers wantto move away from the synthetic label orthe use of synthetic or artificial colours,we develop clean label solutions. We alsoapply fermentation technology whichessentially helps in developing cleanerproducts,” she said.

　　“One of the main challenges ofcustomers in developing products isbasically limited resources, includingtime. In this regard, Kalsec is able toprovide application support that is quiteunique. Most of our competitors eitherhave the flavour but not the colours of therosemary. Some have the rosemary butdon’t have the colours. If clients workwith Kalsec, they will actually accessa one-stop solution that is full-on andcomplete from flavours, to colours andantioxidants.

　　Helping customers navigate theAsian marketFor companies, compliance with F&Bregulations can be tough in Asia wherecountries have different regulations. Aproduct can be approved and used in onecountry but barred from another due tolabelling issues. “That’s why Kalsec hasstrengthened its regulatory capabilitiesto help guide our customers through theregulatory landscape,” said Koh.

　　Koh cites China as wanting to improveits standards. “It gets expert opinion onsetting colour standards and invites peoplelike us to provide guidelines on what theycall the GB food standard. Our colleaguesin the mainland – and other countries– help customers navigate through therequirements,” she explained.

　　Sustainable production“More importantly now, [consumers]are interested in the sustainability practicesof companies. They want to know how aprocess is being done, how a company isprotecting the environment and reducingits carbon footprint, and even how acompany takes care of its employees, andthe community,” she continued. Havingbeen in the business for nearly 61 years,Kalsec is familiar with these demands