CO2 OPEN PROFICIENCY PROGRAM (ANNUAL)

CO2 OPEN PROFICIENCY PROGRAM (ANNUAL)

The CO2 Open Proficiency Program has been created with the Beverage Industry in mind, allowing you to calibrate your sensory abilities and collaborate to improve standards. Join today to enrol in two rounds of Flavour Identification using our GMP Flavour Standards.

£600.00 GBP

Quantity:

We ship globally – shipping costs may apply depending on your region

Minimum Order: £275

WHAT IS THE CO2 OPEN PROFICIENCY PROGRAM?

CO2 purity is a critical and often overlooked factor in beverage quality. Any off-flavour carried in carbonation gas transfers directly to the finished product, impacting taste, brand reputation, and consumer confidence.

The CO2 Open Proficiency Program is FlavorActiV’s industry-standard sensory calibration scheme, purpose-built for beverage manufacturers and quality assurance teams who need to verify and improve their panel’s ability to detect CO2-related off-flavours.

Participants complete two structured proficiency rounds per year — in April and October — using FlavorActiV’s proprietary pharmaceutical-grade GMP Flavour Standards and online proficiency software to test, score, and track individual tasting performance.

 

PROGRAM STRUCTURE AND PRICING

The annual subscription delivers the best value and fullest feature set, with two proficiency rounds per year at £300 per round compared to £350 for a single pay-as-you-go round. Annual subscribers also receive full access to the Total Vocabulary System (TVS), the proficiency platform’s benchmarking and progress-tracking module.

Annual Program Single Round
Number of Rounds 2 (April & October) 1
Cost Per Round £300 £350
TVS Access Full access Limited
Certification Yes — on completion Not included
Proficiency Test IN-OUT IN-OUT
Subscription Type Annual subscription Pay as you go

Round 1 runs in April.

Round 2 runs in October.

Annual subscribers are automatically enrolled in both rounds.

 

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

This program is designed for any organisation that uses CO2 in production, including:

– Breweries, craft beer producers, and contract packers
– Soft drink and carbonated water manufacturers
– Sensory panel managers looking to benchmark and develop taster ability
– Quality managers seeking to reduce off-flavour risk and product recall

Proficiency testing is the logical next step after initial flavour training. We recommend completing FlavorActiV’s CO2 flavour training available in our online store before joining the scheme.

 

Flavours Covered in the CO2 Program

Each proficiency round uses FlavorActiV GMP Flavour Standards to test participants’ ability to identify the ten key flavours most commonly associated with CO2 contamination and quality failure. These are not generic flavour exercises — each compound was selected for its direct relevance to carbonated beverage production.

GMP Flavour Standard Why It Matters for CO2 Quality
Acetaldehyde Green apple / acetone note; common fermentation by-product
DMS (Dimethyl Sulphide) Cooked vegetable/sweetcorn aroma; cellar contamination marker
H2S (Hydrogen Sulphide) Rotten egg; sulphur compound from yeast stress or contamination
Nonanal Fatty / tallowy; lipid oxidation indicator in food-grade CO2
Onion (Swampy) Pungent sulphurous off-note associated with microbial activity
Rotten Vegetable Decay-type aroma; signals biological contamination in beverages
Rancid Fish Oil Oxidised fat odour; indicates hydrocarbon or oil carry-over
Motor Fuel Petroleum / hydrocarbon; traces from compression equipment
Fermented Ethanol / yeasty note; contamination from fermentation sources
Plastics Polymer / packaging migration; pipe or vessel material off-note

All FlavorActiV Flavour Standards are manufactured at pharmaceutical GMP quality, encapsulated, blister-packaged, and individually marked with our authenticity seal. The same flavour standards used in the proficiency program are available to purchase separately for in-house training.

 

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS — STEP BY STEP

– Enrol via the FlavorActiV online store and choose the annual subscription.
– Receive your GMP Flavour Standards kit ahead of each round (shipped globally).
– Complete the blind tasting using the included flavour capsules.
– Log your results on the CO2 Open Proficiency Program software platform — mobile-friendly and accessible worldwide.
– Review your IN-OUT proficiency score, identify areas for improvement, and track progress across rounds.
– Receive formal certification on successful completion of the full annual program.

 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF JOINING CO2 OPEN PROFICIENCY PROGRAM?

Some of the benefits of joining:

– Reduce risk of undesirable product release
– Reduced specialised sensory training costs for panellists
– Learn taster’s strengths and weaknesses to hone skills accordingly
– Encourages staff retention and attracts new talent
– Improves your product and brand awareness

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Do I need prior training before joining the proficiency program?

A : Yes. Proficiency testing is the step after training. We recommend completing FlavorActiV’s CO2 flavour training first, which covers the recognition of all 10 flavours included in the scheme. Training materials are available in our online store.

Q: How is the proficiency test scored?

A : Results are scored using an IN-OUT method — each participant is assessed on whether they correctly identify a flavour (IN) or miss it (OUT). Annual subscribers receive full TVS access to track scores, view trends, and identify specific weaknesses across rounds.

Q: Is the certification formally recognised?

A : Certification is issued by FlavorActiV to all participants who successfully complete both rounds of the annual program. It documents panellist proficiency against pharmaceutical-grade sensory standards and is suitable for inclusion in audit files and quality management systems.

Q: Can participants join from outside the UK?

A : Yes. The program is open globally. FlavorActiV ships GMP Flavour Standards worldwide, and the proficiency software platform is accessible from any location and device.

Q: What is the difference between the annual program and a single round?

A : The annual subscription includes two rounds (April and October) at £300 per round, full access to the TVS platform, and formal certification. A single round costs £350 and includes limited platform access and no certification. For teams building ongoing sensory capability, the annual program offers significantly better value.

 

FlavorActiV GMP Flavour Standards

Only Pharmaceutical Quality GMP Flavour Standards provide sufficient quality for professional sensory panels to train and validate with.

We produce encapsulated GMP (Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practice) Flavour Standards that are safe to both smell and drink. The compounds within our capsules impart the aroma, taste and mouthfeel of a specific defect or positive flavour into a beverage for the purposes of taster training, calibration and quality control.

Our individual flavour GMP Flavour Standards are sold by flavour, each flavour pack contains 5 capsules, each separately blister packaged. Our sensory kits contain a mixture of flavours, each separately blister packaged, read the product description for flavour details.

We ship globally, and have over 20 years of experience at it. Our GMP Pharmaceutical Flavour Standards are produced to the highest standards, and as such, their shelf-life is strong and their quality consistent.

FlavorActiV’s flavour centre is the world’s only pharmaceutically run facility dedicated to the production of flavour reference standards. The Flavour Centre is a state-of-the-art facility housed within the campus of world-renowned Quay Pharma near Liverpool in the U.K.

The Flavour Centre was designed by FlavorActiV from the ground up at the direct request of global customers as they looked to move away from inferior food grade ‘certified flavour standards’ to GMP Pharma, a standard that ensures safe, stable, traceable, consistent and long shelf-life products.

All FlavorActiV’s industry-leading encapsulated flavour standards are manufactured following GMP at our Flavour Centre. All aspects of manufacture are overseen by Quay Pharma who are audited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory agency (MHRA). We also welcome customer audits.

Only FlavorActiV GMP flavour standard capsules bear our mark of authenticity.

We brand each of our capsules so that our customers know they’re getting the Pharmaceutical GMP Quality that only FlavorActiV provide.

Industry leading packaging and shelf-life

FlavorActiV flavour standards are blister packaged, which extends shelf-life and protects capsules from potential contamination. The average shelf-life of FlavorActiV flavour standards is 18 months to 4 years, depending on the flavour compounds.

We will never ship in pots or plastic packaging, here’s why…

Blister packaging protects capsules from the environment until they are ready for use. Blister packaging greatly reduces the amount of headspace for possible flavour escape. As each capsule individually blister packaged, making use of one capsule still leaves all others protected. FlavorActiV Flavour Standard packaging is 100% recyclable, as opposed to polypropylene which is not widely recycled.

Pots are semi-porous, they allow molecules to pass through and flavour to be lost, their significant headspace also adds to substantial flavour escape as a gas, even when using just one capsule all those remaining in the pot are exposed.

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