Category: I.T.S. news

We have invested to install and commission a high-quality UHT pilot plant at our facility in Newbury.

We don’t like to blow our own trumpet, but we’ve made a real mark in the flavoured milk market over the last few years. If you’re a fan of milkshakes, we’re pretty confident you’ll have already tried our flavours. We’ve now built up a large range of natural flavourings that work perfectly in both pasteurised milk products and UHT treated milk products.

Quality UHT Flavourings Guaranteed 

Through the success we’ve had working with milk products we’ve invested to install and commission a high-quality UHT pilot plant at our facility in Newbury. The UHT plant will not only make sure all our flavourings have been fully UHT tested, but also offers the opportunity for customers to run trials alongside us using the machine.

This gives our customers peace of mind that the flavours they receive will survive the UHT process and be ready for use in development and production. Often flavours can lose their impact or gain metallic notes through the UHT process, so it is important to know the flavourings can survive the extreme heat treatment.

Customer Satisfaction Drives Innovation in I.T.S. Flavours

Briony Rideout, Dairy and Beverage Innovation Specialist at I.T.S. says “It’s another step towards making our customers lives easier. When they receive flavours from us they can relax, knowing the flavours don’t need any further testing or UHT trials.”

It’s this focus on customer satisfaction that is helping I.T.S. gain so much momentum. Mike Bagshaw, Owner and Founder of I.T.S explains “For us, it’s all about making our customers happy. If they are happy, we are happy. We build the business based purely on the needs of our customers and how best we can accommodate them”.

Get in touch to request some tasty UHT tested flavours or find out how to run your own trials on our pilot plant.

Will the hard seltzer transform the alcoholic drinks market, or is it all hype and no flavour?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the last couple of years, you’ll be aware of the latest craze to hit the alcoholic drinks market. The hard seltzer is providing a healthier alternative to beer and ready to drink alcoholic drinks that usually come packed with sugar.

For anyone doubting the future of the hard seltzer market, forecasts show it will “far surpass” initial predictions of 281 million case sales in the US by 2023, two years early, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. This was echoed by the Stone Brewing CEO, Maria Stipp, who stated “At the current rate, seltzer will pass craft in terms of category size. So, that’s meaningful to us.” This also highlights the huge trend in breweries and distillers getting involved in the hard seltzer market.

What is a hard seltzer?

Hard seltzers are incredibly simple and cheap to produce – carbonated water, with alcohol and flavourings. The product gained fame in the US with the eye-catching White Claw who were the first brand to gain real attention. Since then countless brands and drink developers have jumped on the craze to try to recreate the popular White Claw product.

You’ll be able to spot a hard seltzer a mile off as all the branding seem to follow the same design style – a white can and a splash of bright colour. Brewdog, Smirnoff, Kopparberg are some of the bigger brands to try their hand, but the market is also full of young start-up’s looking to target the growing health-conscious consumer segment.

So, does hard seltzer live up to the promise?

Given all the pretty packaging and huge hype, do these products deliver on flavour? Close, but no cigar. We think they are currently just falling short. Sure, they taste fruity and some even try adding some other ingredients to make them slightly more interesting – but for us, they always end up falling a little flat. It’s a bit like how flavoured water never really hugely took off – yeah, it tastes ok, but not something that’ll blow you away.

We love a little tipple at I.T.S. so took it upon ourselves to pretty much taste all the hard seltzers currently available in UK supermarkets. A very mixed bag of results, some simply didn’t deliver and some offered real promise, however, none blew us away.

One of the biggest issues we found was the complete lack of mouthfeel in the products, which just make them feel very plain and empty. Of course, the lack of sugar is also an issue as we are used to our fruity products being nice and sweet.

Revolutionising the flavour of the hard seltzer

We started thinking, these hard seltzers have so much promise, but aren’t quite there yet – how can we help? We knew they needed to be sweeter and have a more advanced mouthfeel, but still not increase the sugar content. Easy.

Enter our new 100% natural sweetness and mouthfeel booster, SweetLITE Body. By using SweetLITE Body you can add both the missing sweetness and mouthfeel to a hard seltzer without big changes in the ingredients listed on the can. This game-changing solution is simply labelled as a natural flavouring and inulin.

Problem solved. The drink is expected to take more than 15 per cent of the US beer and cider market by 2024, and also showing similar signs of growth in the UK.

Want to give it a go? Get in touch to request a sample of SweetLITE Body.

Our premium range of natural flavourings are made from actual fruit extracts and distillates.

We’ve been busy developing some new braver flavourings perfect for summer launches.

This summer is sure to be packed with new summer releases and plenty of exotic flavours. This year more than ever customers will be on the lookout for escapism and exciting flavours to transport them to the feeling of being on holiday.

Of course the big flavours like pineapple, mango and passion fruit will be everywhere, but it’s time to do some flavour discovery. If you’re looking for the ideal flavour for an eye-catching limited edition product, or maybe create an exciting hybrid flavour – we have been busy developing a new range of braver summer flavours that will work perfectly.

Brazilian Orange Flavouring

We’ll start things off nice and gently with a new twist on a classic. Everyone loves orange, but it’s time to give it that extra premium feel. Trust us, this one is like the juiciest orange you’ve ever tasted.

Request Brazilian Orange Flavouring sample

Loquat Flavouring

Here’s a little known flavour that we are sure is destined for big things. Think a mix between apricot and peach – heaven, right? This super fresh tasting fruit is big in South America and often used in smoothies and part of fruit salads.

Request Loquat Flavouring sample

Ambarella Flavouring

Now, this is where we start getting a little braver. Ambarella is a little known tropical fruit that is also known as spondias dulcis. This is typically found in countries such as Jamaica, Costa Rica and Malaysia. It’s a versatile flavour that can be used for both sweet and savoury foods. It’s often found in fruity curries and also works well with lime and chilli.

Request Ambarella Flavouring sample

Carambola Flavouring

Carambola, or you might know it as Star Fruit is another fruit hailing from South East Asia. This cheeky little number is something slightly different. It has a nice subtle sweetness but presents a tart and slightly sour undertone which gives a really unique flavour that is hard to match. Certainly one to give a go if you’re looking for something a bit different. Plus, who doesn’t love the sound of Star Fruit Flavour?

Request Carambola Flavouring sample

Elderflower FTNF Flavouring

No big surprises or discoveries here, but this one fits perfectly into our growing FTNF (From the Named Fruit) range. Elderflower is the perfect British summertime flavour for beverages and now this delicious flavour comes in FTNF – what’s not to like?

Request Elderflower FTNF Flavouring sample

Persian Style Lime Flavouring

Who doesn’t love lime? We couldn’t have a list of summer flavours and not include it. This one isn’t just any old lime. This one really packs a punch and is fresh as a lime flavour is going to get. Great for that extra special or premium lime product.

Request Persian Style Lime Flavouring sample

Kiwi and Cucumber Flavouring

We’re saving the best until last here. This one is just possibly the most refreshing thing you’ll ever try. We had this as part of our Flavour Trends Report this year and it’s safe to say it went down a storm.

Surprisingly this one works a treat in milk drinks…trust us. Of course, it also fits like a hand in glove for regular drinks – hard seltzer, anyone?

Request Kiwi and Cucumber Flavouring sample

Get in touch if you’d like to request any samples of our new braver summer flavours.

It’s finally here, the answer to your biggest headache. I.T.S. present the definite all-natural sweetness and mouthfeel booster for beverages.

The bane of most beverage technologists lives is trying to reduce sugar content, but still maintain the same great taste and desired mouthfeel. Well, the team at I.T.S. has gone and done it.

100% NATURAL SWEETNESS AND MOUTHFEEL BOOSTER

The new 100% natural ingredient has been proven to reduce sugar content by up to 50% in a variety of beverage applications. The new product joins our already impressive range of sugar reduction solutions as part of our SweetLITE™ range. We’ve labelled it SweetLITE™ Body as it provides the taste and texture combined to give the consumer the perception that the product is full of sugar.

There is simply no easier way to remove calories from product development – the natural powder is completely water soluble and carries no colour changes when used at recommended levels. It’s incredibly versatile and suitable for most applications and all pH ranges. SweetLITE™ Body is as tough as ingredients come and not affected by temperature or forms of processing.

SUGAR REDUCTION MADE EASY

We aren’t ones for trying to dazzle you with science or over complicate things – no processing instructions needed, just drop in the recommended amount, give it a quick stir and you are good to go. What’s better is it’s simply labelled as a natural flavouring and dietary fibre on your packaging.

Briony Rideout, I.T.S. Beverage Specialist explains “It’s brilliant to offer such a remarkable solution. When I first tried it I couldn’t quite believe how simple and effective it is. SweetLITE™ Body has really hit the ground running, and we are already underway using the product in many new trials with brands.”

I.T.S. LEADING THE WAY IN BEVERAGE INGREDIENTS

SweeLITE™ Body once again proves the success of I.T.S. within the beverage ingredient sector. We’ve been running for just over 10 years and already have some of the most talked about solutions in the market, not to mention always staying one step ahead.

Mike Bagshaw, Owner and Founder of I.T.S. says “I’m incredibly proud of I.T.S. on the release of our new SweetLITE™ Body application. We are a small team but consistently produce big results. In a sector with so much noise and incredibly overcomplicated ingredients, we produce straightforward and effective solutions for our customers that always come out on top.”

FREE NEXT DAY SUGAR REDUCTION SAMPLES

If you’d like us to put our money where our mouth is, get in touch and we’ll send you over some free samples to try out.

To celebrate World Earth Day we are proudly announcing our plans to become a carbon negative flavouring supplier.

Put simply, we are looking to remove more CO2 emissions than we put into the atmosphere.

We recognise the responsibility we have to help preserve the planet. We also recognise the great efforts many of our customers put into helping with the sustainability of our planet.

The food and beverage industry plays a huge role globally in the high levels of pollution – it’s time that companies started to make a bigger impact in preserving the planet for generations to come.

Mike Bagshaw, Owner and Founder of I.T.S. explains “It’s something we are very passionate about and we’ve been looking at doing for a while. But the truth is we don’t have time to wait, action needs to be taken. We are looking forward to offering our customers flavourings that help save the planet when we become carbon negative.”

We will initially put plans in place to operate as carbon neutral and then move to a carbon-negative operation.

More information and exciting sustainable projects are in the pipeline – keep an eye out.

The team at I.T.S. have been doing everything they can to help out people in need this Christmas.

We’ve been busy supplying and delivering Christmas dinner hampers to 23 local Newbury families who needed help this Christmas. We are passionate about helping out where we can, like how we’ve been manufacturing hand sanitiser and donating to the most vulnerable throughout this year.

There’s no doubt about it, this year has been tough for everyone. Through the help of our dedicated customers and suppliers we are ending 2020 in good shape and ready for what 2021 brings.

There has been shining lights of hope and determination that have truly inspired us through 2020. From all our friends in the food industry working around the clock to meet increased demands, to the exciting new brands we’ve worked with that developed and launched products during the nationwide lockdown.

We’d also like to thank all the lorry drivers, shop assistants and everyone that goes unnoticed for playing a pivotal role in ensuring the nation remained fed this year.

So, it’s not like any Christmas we’ve experienced before, but it’s a time to be thankful and give a little back to people who need it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – from everyone at team I.T.S.

We crunch the data and give you the run down of our best selling and performing flavourings of 2020.

This year hasn’t been easy, but we’ve decided to focus on the positives and all the delicious tasting products our natural flavourings have helped make this year. That’s why we’ve decided to crunch the data and celebrate our most popular flavours of 2020.

Bestselling Flavouring of 2020

The award goes to, surprise, surprise – Vanilla. This flavouring has probably been our most popular flavour since we started in 2009. Quite simply, it’s the top dog of flavours. Absolutely essential in bakery and dairy especially. We don’t like to brag, but this Vanilla spreads so far and wide, we are confident you’ve probably already tried it.

Our flagship Vanilla takes the award, but is followed by our wide range of Vanilla profiles such as Creamy, Rich, Madagascan and Ice Cream, to name a few.

Honourable mentions: Coming in just behind were Maple and Strawberry that were also both very strong this year.

Request a sample

New Flavourings on the Block

The next award celebrates our best preforming new flavour that we released this year. We are all happy to see Raspberry come out on top here. A truly standout flavour that works perfectly for all of our sectors and across many different applications. This one is also turning a lot of heads in the beverage sector, especially things like hard seltzers.

Honourable mentions: No 2020 flavour awards would be complete without the arrival of savoury flavours. This time a worthy runner up is our delicious Vegan Cheese Seasoning. A seasoning that is taking the plant based world by storm. Seriously, you need to check this out.

Request a sample

The Biggest Improvers

This award highlights the most improved sales of any flavouring for 2020. This is another one that really shows the sign of the times and brands reacting to consumer trends. Our most improved flavour is our infamous SweetLITE Super product.

If you’re not familiar with our sugar reduction range, SweetLITE is a natural flavouring that can reduce sugar content in products by up to 50% by boosting sweetness profiles.

Honourable mentions: Our Rosy Apple flavouring is also another big improver this year – a big hit again with the beverage sector.

Request a sample

The Stars of Tomorrow

We also wanted to give a special mention to some flavourings that have really started to rocket on in the latter half of 2020 and that we think should be rallying up the charts for next year.

Blood Orange and Pink Grapefruit are two we are very proud of and just keep producing time after time. Both are bursting with flavour and ideal for anyone looking for something special.

With just about everyone focusing on plant based projects, our savoury range is coming on leaps and bounds. Particularly flavourings like Umami and Smoked.

Request a sample

We don’t want to give too much away though – a more detailed look into the biggest flavours of next year will be included in our Flavour Trends 2021 – 2022 report that will be released early next year.

If you’d like to give any of the flavourings mentioned above a try, please get in touch to request some free samples