FlavorActiV To Improve Flavour Standard Range

FlavorActiV To Improve Flavour Standard Range

FlavorActiV to expand and improve flavour standard range in partnership with Quay Pharma

Taster management specialist FlavorActiV is improving the quality and range of its flavour standard products through a new partnership with specialist pharmaceutical manufacturer Quay Pharma.

The improved product range, which will be available around early 2012, are manufactured to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) pharmaceutical grade production standard – a requirement demanded by an increasing number of FlavorActiV’s global brewer and beverage customers and in excess of ISO 17025 industry standards. The flavours will be supplied in pharmaceutical grade packaging to ensure product quality, consistency and performance.

FlavorActiV has its own brand new purpose built, dedicated production and analytical area within Quay Pharma’s pharmaceutical production facility in Flintshire, north Wales.  A FlavorActiV-trained and managed expert panel will be available for sensory analysis and validation of flavour standards, as well as significant laboratory analytical equipment use.

The Quay Pharma facility and team in Flintshire, north Wales

Flavour standards are an essential tool in FlavorActiV’s core business of taster management: recruiting and training in-house tasting panels for its customers and then validating panel members’ tasting skills regularly to ensure drinks quality is maintained. Their flavour standards replicate the flavours generated by common faults in the production process and are supplied as capsules which dissolve rapidly to add the required flavour to a liquid such as beer.

As well as being used by tasting panels trained and validated by FlavorActiV, the products are widely used in the beverage industry in laboratory analysis of flavour issues.

Richard Boughton, FlavorActiV managing director, said: “Our move to Quay Pharma allows us to make a quantum leap in the quality of the products and services we offer customers, not just for beer but for beverage sensory needs. It delivers not just improvements in our existing products, but also in the stability of the flavours in our existing products, as well as the additional quality of pharmaceutical grade packaging. In addition, there is scope for further flavour innovation in the products we can offer customers.

“The use of a GMP-certified partner brings further improvements to the traceability and supply of these products, which our customers can see first-hand as we are conducting visits to our production facility.”

He added, “Our aim has always been to provide our clients with the best-trained, most rigorously-validated tasting panels and these new flavours will help us to achieve this.”

Updated Water FlavorFiles

Updated Water FlavorFiles

We have decided to update our Water FlavorFiles to give you the best learning aid to develop your water sensory knowledge. The Water FlavorFiles will guide you through the best tasting techniques and will also explain the reasons and origins of the off flavours and taints found in water. To download the complete set of Water FlavorFiles you can download them here, or visit our Resources section where you will also be able to download our Beer and Soft Drink FlavorFiles. If you have any questions about our updated documentation please contact us.

Soft Drink FlavorFiles

Soft Drink FlavorFiles

Our Soft Drink Flavour Standards can help you develop your ability to detect certain flavour notes found in beverages. To help with this learning we have updated our Soft Drink FlavorFiles. The FlavorFiles will guide you through the best techniques for tasting and will also explain the flavours’ importance and origins. To download the Soft Drink FlavorFiles please click here, or visit our Resources section where you will also find Beer Flavour Standards FlavourFiles and Water Flavour Standards FlavorFiles.

New updated Beer Flavour Standards FlavorFiles

New updated Beer Flavour Standards FlavorFiles

In an attempt to improve the service we provide, we have recently updated all the Beer Flavour Standards FlavorFiles. In the FlavorFiles you will able to find out the flavour is important to beer, its origins and advice on the best ways to detect the different flavours.

You will be able to find our new Beer Flavour Standards FlavorFiles under our resource section, or alternatively download the FlavorFiles here. 

Vietwater 2011

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FlavorActiV’s Marie Pohler will be presenting at the Vietwater Expo & Conference, where she will give a presentation about off-flavours found in water. Vietwater Expo & Conference is the leading industry meeting in Asia, and will take place from the 24th to the 26th of November in Ho Chi Minh City. The event which is run by Vietnam Water Supply and Sewage Association will address the pressing needs in the country for the supply of portable water and sanitation facilities. 10,000 buyers and decision makers will attend the variety of conferences and forums to find potential solutions and answers on water and water waste management.

Brau Beviale

Brau Beviale

FlavorActiV’s Managing Director, Richard Boughton, will be attending Brau Beviale in Nuremberg. Brau Beviale, a capital goods exhibition for the beverage industry, will take place this year on the 9th to the 11th of November.

SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival

SIBA North 2 - 2011

One of our Taster Management Advisers Marie Pohler went to Manchester last month to train SIBA’s Great Northern Beer Festival judging panel. Marie held a one day tasting session on how to taste taints and off-flavours in beers. The seminar was open to all the judges at the beer competition, which hosted 250 cask beers and 100 bottled beers. To find out more information about SIBA please feel free to contact Marie at Marie.Pohler@flavoractiv.com or visit the SIBA website.

Brau Beviale 2011

Brau Beviale 2011

FlavorActiV’s Managing Director, Richard Boughton, will be attending Brau Beviale in Nuremberg. Brau Beviale, a capital goods exhibition for the beverage industry, will take place this year on the 9th to the 11th of November. The exhibition will introduce the latest developments and trends in the production of beverages, including beers, wines and soft drinks. This year the exhibition will pay special attention to the development of technology.

New Taster Validation Scheme Software

New Taster Validation Scheme Software
New software from FlavorActiV streamlines Taster Validation Scheme
FlavorActiV is pleased to announce that we have launched a new software package which offers brewers and beverage companies greatly improved support to maintain the effectiveness of their in-house tasting panels.
The new, licensed software – the result of an extensive redevelopment programme by FlavorActiV – makes the process of taster validation easier, faster and more intuitive for the users, generally in-house tasting team leaders.

Taster validation is a core element of the service provided by FlavorActiV. The process tests the tasting ability of panel members and is carried out every two months. “The redesigned software is an integral part of our Taster Validation Scheme (TVS). Using the software to record validation results means our customers are able to spend less time on administration, more time on tasting,” says Dr Boris Gadzov, FlavorActiV director of taster management.

Taster validation is accomplished by sending a set of anonymous coded flavour standards to panel members. These are dissolved in beer or another beverage, and panel members try to identify the flavours. When the team leader enters the panel’s score, he is given an instant result for its accuracy level – a minimum score of 70% is required for a robust panel.

Further analysis is easy to do with the new system, enabling team leaders and others to pull up results on an individual, panel, site or company-wide basis, using the range of options provided for graphs and charts to display them.  Problems at all levels are easy to spot and remedy, usually through further training, before they cause any problems with beer or beverage quality.

FlavorActiV also offers remote analysis of the taster validation results, which it uses to shape the support offered by its team of Taster Management Advisers. It can also highlight broader issues, as Gadzov explains, “If we find, for example, that tasters globally are having trouble detecting a particular flavour, then we review how we train them to recognise it,” says Gadzov.

Features of the software include:

  • Multilingual capability, initially in English, Russian and Chinese
  • An intuitive, fully user-friendly process
  • Greatly improved speed and ease of use
  • A wider range of functionality and data manipulation
  • All results encrypted and securely stored
  • Encrypted connection to customer during access to the software

Gadzov comments: “Our starting point for the new TVS was our customers. We’ve listened carefully to them in order to make this improved version as simple to use as possible, while at the same making it even more effective in supporting their business.”

SIBA Midlands Beer Festival

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One of our Taster Management Advisers Marie Pohler recently went to Nottingham to assist in the judging of the ‘Bottled Gold Beers’ at the SIBA Midlands Beer Festival. After the one day festival, the judges decided that the Hooky Gold from Hook Norton Brewery Co.Ltd was the best tasting. Silver place was awarded to the Thornbridge Brewery for their Kipling beer whilst third place went to the Ein Stein beer produced by the Lymestone Brewery.  This week Marie will be heading to Manchester to deliver a seminar about off-flavours at the SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival.