Issue 3 2016

ingredients 15
has become ’s market leader.
Specifically, Diana produces an
entire range of natural extracts
and concentrates for the food
industry from the whole chicken –
the entire skeleton including flesh,
fat and skin fragments. “In
general, a broth is cooked and
then delivered in a thickened form
to food manufacturers,” says Jens
Koch from Symrise, who, with his
French colleagues, has
accompanied the process from the
start.
“Together we looked at the
individual components that are
used in production and brought in
our know-how when it comes to
something called reaction flavours.
Now we want to find out how the
taste develops in the broth when
the molecules of white and dark
meat, skin, fat and other
components react with each
other,” Koch explains. “Here are
two examples: take the lightcoloured
breast meat; that has an
umami taste, while the flavour of
leg meat has livery and bony
elements.”
The manager for natural flavour
complexes at Symrise is holding a
bowl in his hand that contains a
dark paste: hydrolyzed meat from ,
which has been reduced to
proteins, peptides and amino acids
by way of an enzymatic process.
“This way we are better able to
analyse and also further process
individual components,” Koch
explains. He has cooked and fried
the paste-like meat, mixing it with
fat and concentrated spices to see
how they combine and react to
each other. “This allows us to
develop completely different
flavour combinations for our
customers’ needs with a purely
natural product.”
Benefits of integration
Thomas Couëpel also sees big
benefits. “Since our integration
within the Symrise Group, we are
able to act in a much more agile
fashion and simultaneously work
on joint projects in teams with
colleagues and technologies from
both sides,” he says. “We have
received very positive customer
feedback with regard to the initial
prototypes.” In a poultry stock a
special building block can be
brought out that tastes like boiled
chicken (especially popular in
Asia) or roasted meat that has
been marinated.
Two globally operating
companies with
different technologies,
products and
customers had to come
together and develop
common goals,
processes and
strategies
Added value
But the collaboration has also
resulted in an entirely different
kind of added value. With Diana,
Symrise is able to achieve
backward integration of an
important raw material. “In order
to develop intense chicken
flavours, we used to purchase
meat extract from various
manufacturers,” says Jens Koch.
“Now we have in-house production
of it.” A transfer of knowledge also
takes place in the other direction.
Technologies from Holzminden are
directly incorporated into the
process in France, for instance.
“We have already been able to
directly implement 10 to 15
products in this way,” explains
Koch. “This allows us to make use
of valuable materials in a much
more sustainable and economical
way.”
RENDEZVOUS
The successful integration of
Diana into the Symrise Group was
not a sure thing: Two globally
operating companies with different
technologies, products and
customers had to come together
and develop common goals,
processes and strategies. There
follows a dinner conversation
about a successful endeavour.
A simple, but beautifully set table
at a restaurant in Holzminden. The
waiter brings a bottle of red wine,
opens it and pours a small amount
into Heinrich Schaper’s glass. The
President of the Flavors Division
at Symrise examines the dark red
liquid. He takes a whiff and a sip.
It will do just fine. Dr. Jean-Yves
Parisot, President of the Diana
Division, sits across from him.
Once his wine has also been
poured, the managers look at each
other. ‘Zum Wohl,’ says the
German, which is quickly followed
by À votre santé’ from the
Frenchman. The rest of the
evening’s conversation is held in
English.
Mr. Schaper, Mr. Parisot, what
was your first impression of each
other?
Heinrich Schaper: I can still
remember our first meeting quite
well. Diana was very successful
www.foodmagazine.eu.com issue three | 2016