Category: Industry news

Things are about to get a whole lot tastier.

Following rapid year on year business growth, flavour experts, I.T.S has acquired a second facility, complete with a state-of-the-art flavour laboratory, close to its existing premises in Newbury, Berkshire.

Flavour innovation and application development at the heart of new I.T.S. site.

I.T.S’ new site will feature a modern innovation centre as well as customer product development areas. There will be new flavour creation laboratories, flavour sample bays and dedicated application spaces for bakery, dairy, beverage, and confectionery. The I.T.S microbrewery and bar, currently housed in the existing building and location of many a successful beer flavour tasting, will be given a facelift too and move to the new site.

Unbeatable lead times and trusted supply will be further supported.

New warehousing located there will hold both raw materials and finished product on-site. This will ensure that I.T.S can offer rapid turnround times and a stable supply to customers. The current I.T.S site will be converted into a purely manufacturing and technical site. This will increase production capacity, so allowing I.T.S to dramatically increase its flavour manufacturing capabilities.

Taking A Braver Flavour to the next level.

Established in 2009 by Mike Bagshaw, with the focus on bringing innovation and injecting some fun into the flavours sector, I.T.S now employs 24 people and supplies natural flavours throughout the food and beverage industries. Mike’s original vision remains at the heart of I.T.S and it is this approach to being ‘brave’ with flavour, while responding quickly to customer needs that has helped to drive the company’s success to date.

Mike Bagshaw, founder of I.T.S explains: “When I set up I.T.S 15 years ago at my kitchen table, I wanted to shake up the flavours industry, inject some real innovation and encourage customers to think outside the box. In recent years we have seen an explosion in popular culture, use of the internet and social media which, in turn, have fuelled fast changing food trends. As a proudly independent flavour house, we can keep on top of the latest trends and respond quickly to them, giving customers access to flavours which they may not be able to source easily from larger flavour suppliers.

Investing in the future and growth of natural flavour manufacturing. 

“The time has come to invest in the next stage of I.T.S’ growth and to expand to bigger and better facilities that will enable us not only to develop some fantastic new flavours but also give us the space to work directly with customers on product development and manufacture.
“These are exciting times for I.T.S and the whole team is looking forward to the next set of opportunities that this move will bring”.

I.T.S is hoping to move to its new premises by the end of the year.

Food and Drink Trends this Christmas.

Now the dust has settled and supermarkets are stuffed to capacity with glitz and glamour, we jumped head first into the sparkliest aisle in the supermarket. 

Discover what’s hot this Christmas with food and drink in UK supermarkets.

Mince Pies, but not as we know them.

Finally! Mince Pies are getting a little more exciting. We’ve got nothing against a good old mince pie, it’s just that we felt they could do with a facelift. 

Luckily, our prayers were answered. Taking inspiration from the Hot Cross Bun category we’ve started to see a rise in premium flavoured mince pies.

A special shout out to the chocolate and cherry mince pies at Asda. 

Chocolate, any way you want it. 

If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Chocolate isn’t going anywhere. 

But, in true braver flavour spirit – it’s chocolate ramped up. Mint chocolate, salted chocolate, blonde chocolate, orange chocolate. Make sure you are doing something interesting with it.  

Our special shout-out goes to Tesco with their White Forest flavoured ice cream – yum. 

Berries, with a little bit of Christmas spice.

We’ve been tracking this one for a while. We first spotted it launched in Harrods when we indulged in their mulled berry-filled doughnuts. 

Since then we’ve been singing its praises to anyone that will listen – hoping it will catch on this Christmas. And, guess what – it’s here. 

Our shout-out goes to Aldi’s Mixed Berry Cider which even has the excitement of glitter – and who doesn’t love a little shimmer at Christmas? 

Caramel, you can’t escape it, but why would you want to?

We set you the challenge of trying to avoid caramel this Christmas. Impossible. Everywhere you look another flavour pairing boasts the caramel label.

Leading the way is Caramelised Biscuit. We are pretty sure almost every brand has its own offering at the moment. 

Special shout-out? We couldn’t choose just one. Just get out there and fill your basket with this indulgent flavour. 

Christmas, the perfect time for flavour. 

There are so many other exciting flavours we’ve seen rising in popularity this Christmas.

Flavours like spiced apple, brown butter, candy cane, marmalade, spiced rum, and almond are some of the tasty flavours to make sure you try this Christmas. 

Don’t forget – if you’re looking ahead to next year, get in touch to request some natural flavour samples to get your development started early.  

REQUEST CHRISTMAS FLAVOUR SAMPLES