THE BRITISH SOCIETY OF FLAVOURISTS
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21st January
Joint meeting with British Society of Perfumers
Lecture: Chocolate

Eden, from conception to launch was the subject of the joint BSF / BSP evening lecture given by Barry Colenso of Thorntons at Capel Manor College in January.

Eden is the brand name given to a new range of chocolates developed by Thorntons and aimed primarily at the 20-40 year age bracket. The apparent simplicity of the variety of mousse and praline centres belies the difficulties experienced in bringing this new product range to the market place. Barry, along with his colleague Lee, not only described the development of the chocolates themselves but also some of the innovative manufacturing techniques which had to be employed to move this from a "kitchen scale" product to one which could be mass produced yet still retain a feeling of "old fashioned hand made chocolates".

The chocolates themselves have all been given exotic sounding names describing succinctly the taste sensation about to be experienced. From Vanilla Vamp, a white chocolate outer with a blend of vanilla mousse and truffle as a centre, to Demon in the Dark, a darker chocolate case with a Remy Martin based truffle centre. All nine of the new products have soft/mousse centres, market research showing that people are moving away from hard centred chocolates.

From a flavourists viewpoint Barry highlighted the difficulty experienced in ensuring the centres contained sufficient flavour to get the desired effect. This problem was made more difficult as no compounded flavours were added, the taste coming simply from the named product. In some cases this meant using higher percentages of material than would normally be expected in a chocolate centre. For example the amount of genuine Grand Marnier in the aptly named Grand Passion or using champagne concentrates in the Champagne Creation.

Overall this was a very interesting presentation made all the more appealing by the samples of the full Eden range made available for our enjoyment and comment.

27th February
Lecture: A Taste of Sherry

The United Kingdom is the world’s largest market for Sherry; some 30 million bottles are consumed each year, yet the popular conception of Sherry is that it’s a drink for elderly spinsters and vicars.

So said Bryan Buckingham, Director of the Sherry Institute of Spain at the start of his presentation to members of the BSF at the Novotel, Milton Keynes on 27th February 2003.

The history of Sherry dates back to 1000 BC, when the Greeks first introduced vines to the south of Spain and wine production was well established by the time of the Roman conquest.

Palomino is the principal grape variety used for Sherry production, others are also used to impart flavour and sweetness. The vines are grown in the "Golden Triangle", which is marked out by the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda in Southern Spain.

The grapes are harvested during September and October, fermentation lasts until Christmas when the wine is evaluated to assess its potential characteristics. After fortification the Sherry is aged in casks of American oak stored in the Solera system before being blended and bottled.

Members of the Society were guided through some excellent tasting samples, from the lighter Fino types, which are crisp and tangy to the velvety Pedro Ximenez type, with its rich raisin sweetness and dark mahogany colour. By the end of the evening the audience we were convinced that Sherry is an exciting and complex drink suitable for any occasion.

25th March
Lecture: The Vimto Story

The original name for Vimto was Vimtonic and it was created primarily to meet a demand for drinks created by two major factors.These were firstly, the Temperance Movement which extolled the evils of alcohol and even provided "bars" serving non-alcoholic drinks, and secondly, the Defence of The Realm Act of 1914 which increased duties on alcoholic drinks and severely curtailed the opening hours of public houses.

John Noel Nichols was a wholesale druggist and herb importer who supplied materials for both sasparilla and dandelion and burdock drinks which at this stage were considered to be herbal remedies. At this point in history Herbalists shops held an important position in society as the population sought alternatives to doctors who had to be paid for. Many herbalists had small bars which were open on Sundays for the consumption of non-alcoholic drinks. Following the 1908 Licensing Bill, Nichols identified the potential market for "soft" drinks and developed the product which we now know as Vimto which soon became synonymous with good health.

Although it is now known as simply a soft drink Vimto does possess some interesting properties, for example it is a stimulant, a diuretic and an expectorant, properties which when it was originally developed would almost have placed it into the category of herbal remedies. Its aroma is unique, the flavour was infact manufactured in house until the 1970’s, evoking pleasant memories and capturing moments of the past.

Originally manufactured in Granby Street in Manchester as sales grew so did the requirement to movepremises this happening several times during the companies history though staying always in the Manchester area. The export market was developed in the late 1920’s and today Vimto is very much a global brand being manufactured in such diverse countries as Burma and Nigeria It is supplied in bottles, cans, and tetrapaks.

From a marketing point of view it was’nt until the mid 1930’s that an external advertising agency was commissioned to promote the product, prior to this all marketing had been undertaken in-house, and their first TV ad was seen in 1956. Presently "Purple Ronnie" is the advertising theme this being very much a concept of the late 20th century.

Thanks must go to Chris Jones from Vimto and his assistant Stephanie Jones who presented the company, its history and its product range and jogged many memories with examples of the companies advertisements through the years.

29th April
Lecture: English Herbs Cultivation and Processing

On what was a rather damp spring evening the Novotel, Stevenage provided the venue for a presentation on the cultivation and processing of English herbs.

Jim Casson and Mark Clinch from Frith Farm entertained members of the BSF, who braved the inclement weather, with tales of ‘Jim’s Tonka Toy’, a wonderful Heath Robinson like machine, custom built to harvest herbs for drying and the issues involved in the growing of organic lavender.

Frith Farm, which is located on the Hampshire-Berkshire border, has been growing herbs since 1965 when the first crop of Roman chamomile was planted. The product range for 2003 includes peppermint, angelica, sage, coriander, celery and tarragon; these are available as essential oils, floral waters and dried herbs.

Today with around 500 acres under cultivation many of the farm processes are mechanised, but in the early years planting, harvesting and processing were done by hand. Photographs proved that family members were regularly press-ganged into helping with the harvest.

Distillation of essential oils began in 1970, following the purchase of a second-hand still, now upgraded to a state of the art automated unit that can be run 24 hours a day.

The first planting of herbs for drying was done in 1988, initially these were shipped to Suffolk for processing but are now dried on-site using a rebuilt grass drier in a custom designed barn.

The was a fascinating glimpse into the art of cultivating and processing English herbs at Frith Farm, which as Jim Casson said has been the result of a slow process of evolution rather than revolution.

4th June
32nd BSF Annual Symposium
(Whipsnade Wild Animal Park Conference Centre)

Following the introduction given by Paul Filby the first presentation was given by Keith Gregory of the Food Standards Agency on the subject of Working and Consulting with Stakeholders to Improve Food Labelling. Keith gave a short background to the Food Standards Agency and how it works on behalf of both the food industry and consumer to ensure that foods are labelled as accurately as possible. Further to this Keith spoke on the how the EU are approaching labelling of foodstuffs with allergen labelling and its accuracy being highlighted as of being of particular importance.

The second presentation was given by Danielle Sanderson highlighting the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Danielle is not only a vegetarian but also an international athlete and consequently was able to speak with some authority on this subject. After giving an overview of the various forms of "vegetarianism" and some historical / religious background surrounding vegetarianism Danielle explained why she had become a vegetarian and the positive effect this had had on her life. Following on from the previous lecture Danielle also discussed the importance of accurate food labelling to the vegetarian.

Rabbi Jeremy Conway gave the third lecture this being on the subject of Kosher Food Technology. Jeremy covered the religious reasons for Kosher status for foods and how the London Beth Din through its various divisions certify and control Kosher registered companies throughout the food chain. Further to this he dealt with the difference between Kosher Parve and Kosher for Passover again highlighting the religious reasons behind this thinking.

The final presentation before the lunch break was given by Evelyne Canteranne the Development Manager for Flavoractiv. Although biased towards the brewing industry Evelyne explained how the techniques used within that industry to ensure that the customer received the product they desired could be used across the whole of the food industry. More directly associated with the beer, Evelyne explained how Flavoractiv train potential tasters to identify specific notes in beer and use this experience as a Quality Control tool throughout the production process. Samples of "spiked" beer were available for tasting with prizes for the most accurate answers.

The afternoon session was started by Ray Caleiro from the Patents agents Mewburn Ellis with the Application of Patents to Flavours being the subject. Ray gave a brief background on the history of patents and the information required before a patent can be given. As this requires full disclosure of the idea he also hinted that in certain instances it may actually be disadvantageous to take out a patent. Ray then went into some detail with respect to filing patents and the geographical areas over which a given patent gives protection.

The last presentation of the day was given by Geoff White of Edlong Flavours in which he discussed the role of Trade Associations with specific respect to the flavour industry. The hierarchical structure of the various trade associations open to flavour companies was laid out and the influence that these associations can bring to bear on legislation at various levels also highlighted.

19th June
BSF GOLF DAY 2003

Mottram Hall in Cheshire was the venue for the 2003 BSF Golf Day. Once again the day was graced with fine weather (albeit briefly interrupted by severe winds) and the 36 golfers enjoyed a course that was in wonderful condition. Even the greens were greener than green!

The contest for the Trophy was fought over 18 holes and it was a close run thing with three people finishing with 34 points. However there could only we one winner and, on countback, the honours went to Jesse Steward. Again on countback Vincent Scully was resigned to taking third place as Simon Williams took second.

As has been the case in recent years there were two nearest the pin holes and Danny Hodrien claimed the prize on the 7th and Wim Jan Kessel did so on the 16th. The longest drive was waiting for the tired and weary on the 18th and it was won by Robert Clarke.

Dinner was held in the Wellington Suite in the Hotel and was an extremely enjoyable and sociable affair with Melon and Parma Ham, Grilled Chicken and Apple Pie and custard on the menu.

20th June
Visit: Fox’s Biscuits at Batley

A part of 22 members enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Batley site of Fox’s Biscuits, part of the Northern Foods Group, on Friday 20th June. Due to the complexity of the factory, initial numbers had to be restricted to 20, but our kind host, Malcolm Mellor (Development Controller) was able to accommodate a couple of late applications.

The visit was split into 3 sections, a Market Overview, a Factory Tour and a final question and answer session.

Michelle Edgar, Brand Manager for Echo, started by outlining the various market sectors of the biscuit industry, which now, not only includes the “traditional” products, obvious to everyone, but also Cereal Bars, Rice Cakes etc which have seen huge growth over recent years.
Within these sectors, Michelle highlighted where Fox’s continue to strive to produce high quality products, as a unique selling point, throughout their ranges. Regular mention especially being made to the high quality and thickness, of the chocolate that they use on their products. Certainly during Michelle’s presentation, we had ample opportunity to taste and confirm this, on a wide variety of Fox’s products.

We were then spilt into smaller groups for the actual Factory tour. Fox’s have two sites, one in Kirkham, the more modern facility, geared to large volume production, and the one at Batley. Though the older of the two sites, Batley is geared for smaller production runs with far more flexibility, able to accommodate their speciality products and the intricacies of assortment packing, as we were to see later.

We followed biscuit production, on a number of lines (some relativity simple, others more complicated and sophisticated, including robotic arms, which fascinated everyone) from ingredient weighing and preparation, mixing, dough shaping and forming, through baking and cooling, and then, in most cases, onto secondary processes such as sandwiching with a cream filling, chocolate enrobing, or even both.
The biscuits thus produced, then either go for wrapping and packaging, or are set aside in storage containers, ready for assembly into one of their many biscuit assortment packs, which form such a traditional part of their business. It is at this stage, where the flexibility and traditional skills of their operatives are paramount, as we witnessed the hand packing of a range of such assortment packs.

Following the Factory Tour, Malcolm made himself available for questions and answers, which apart from declining to give the full secrets away about how they get the bubbles in the Echo centre (he said he would have to be shot if he did) the answers where both informative and reflective, of the passed, present and future, of this long established manufacturer of fine quality biscuits.

In closing, Malcolm and his team were thanked for their time and this opportunity to visit their site.

11th July
Works visit: Theakston’s Brewery
at Masham, Ripon North Yorkshire

A small group of members and guests enjoyed an entertaining and informative private tour of the Theakston’s Brewery in Masham. The brewery, which is still in daily use, dates back to 1827 when Robert Theakston first started brewing in the nearby Black Bull Inn. Based in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales it was fascinating to hear about the distribution by horse and dray that took place over a hundred years ago. Now owned by Scottish Courage the beers produced here can now be found all over the world. The guided tour allowed us to see the entire brewing process and included tasting some of the ingredients as we passed through the various production stages. The tour finished of course, with our expert flavour assessment of the award-winning beers!

23rd September - Christmas Lecture:
Lecture: Generation of Food Specific Process Flavourings

Dr. David Baines presented an outstanding practical lecture on the Maillard and similar reactions. He illustrated the various chemical pathways that produce flavour molecules during heating. He presented 16 experimental flavours made by himself in collaboration with Prof. Don Mottram at Reading University. Smelling strips of these reaction systems were provided for evaluation and comments by the audience.

David began with a short history of the reaction that was discovered by Louis Maillard in 1912. It was only in1953 that the chemical reaction mechanism was first elucidated by Hodge.
The first process flavourings that were commercially available appeared in 1965 produced by Unilever. The last twenty years of the 20th century were mainly dedicated to identifying the key flavour volatiles in beef and other products where the Maillard reaction occurs during cooking such as bread, chocolate and caramel.

David pointed out that there are differing definitions of process flavourings produced by The Council of Europe, IOFI and EU. In the first of these flavouring substances are not permitted to be added before reaction, whereas in the other two cases there is not this restriction.

David believes that the possibilities offered by "process flavourings" may be important to the future development of the flavour industry and as a counter to positive listing.

4th December
Christmas Lecture: The Story of Stone's Ginger Wine

It's Christmas time, Mistletoe and wine... Stone's Ginger Wine of course, because that was the subject for this year's BSF Christmas Lecture, presented by Roy Hurford of Matthew Clarke Ltd. at the Novotel, Stevenage on 4th December 2003.

The lecture was well attended and Roy entertained members of the society with 'The Story of Stone's Ginger Wine'; he covered the history, manufacture and marketing plans for the famous brand. Samples of Stone's Original Green Ginger Wine, Special Reserve and Cream Liqueur were available for tasting and to take-away! I'm sipping a glass of the Original as I write, purely for medicinal purposes you understand, and very pleasant it is too!

Matthew Clarke Ltd. currently produces 90 million litres of Stone's Ginger Wine annually in a modern high-tech facility but the product has its origins in more humble surroundings. The company's history can be traced back to 1740 and the founding of the Finsbury Distilling Company.

It was 1751 before the product acquired its famous brand name. That year after the passing of the excise act, which prohibited distillers from selling direct to the public, a retail network was established; key to this was Joseph Stone a grocer who sold the product as Stone's Ginger Wine through his shop in High Holborn, London.

The production process may have changed since 1740 but Stone's Ginger Wine is still made to the same basic recipe, essential ingredients are, Australian ginger, some 12 tonnes per year, raisins from Greece, sugar and high-grade alcohol. The raisin and ginger components are processed separately; subsequently the two are blended to produce the Original and Special Reserve products.

Stone's Ginger Wine may be seen as a seasonal product in the UK, with 80% of sales being achieved in the winter months, but the company are working hard to develop the brand beyond it's traditional image as the Original Winter Warmer into a versatile classic drink enjoyed all year round. Recipe suggestions are printed on the back label of bottles and are available on the company's web site www.stonesgingerwine.com; the Stone's Ginger Ice Cream looks particularly inviting.