Ever wondered how we come up with the flavours for our protein powders?
One of the more enjoyable (and sometimes frustrating!) parts of running NZProtein is developing new flavours. It's something we spend a surprising amount of time on behind the scenes.
You might think it's fairly straightforward. Take some protein powder, add a flavouring, a little sweetener, and you're done.
Unfortunately, it's rarely that simple.
Over the years we've experimented with an enormous number of flavours. Some have been fantastic, some have been terrible, and plenty have fallen somewhere in between.
Most have never made it onto our website.
Not All Proteins Are Created Equal
One of our biggest challenges is that a flavour which works beautifully in one type of protein can be completely unsuitable for another.
For example, whey protein concentrate (WPC) is naturally creamy and milky, making it a great base for flavours such as chocolate and vanilla.
Whey protein isolate (WPI) is different. It has a thinner consistency and a different flavour profile. Something that tastes wonderful in WPC might be disappointing in WPI.
Then there's pea protein, which presents an entirely different set of challenges again.
Some flavours work across all three. Others work in two, while some are only suitable for one.
This means we can't simply take an existing flavour and use it across our entire range. We often need to start experimenting all over again.
The Flavour Graveyard
We've tried so many flavours over the years that it's difficult to remember them all.
Here are just some of the ideas that haven't quite worked out:
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Doughnuts, pies and tarts: These sound wonderful in theory, but translating them into a convincing protein powder flavour is another matter entirely. Sometimes we can't even find a suitable flavouring to start with.
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Peaches and cream: Along with other cream-based combinations, this has been disappointment every time.
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Fruity flavours: Sour apple, apple, passionfruit, watermelon and grape have all been experimented with. Most have been no good at all.
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Dessert flavours: Cheesecake, cookie dough, toffee and marshmallow have all been on the experimental list.
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Biscuits and cookies: We've tried various biscuit flavours, including numerous cookies and cream variations. Most haven't made the cut.
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Vanilla variations: Even something as seemingly simple as French vanilla can be challenging. We've experimented with French vanilla chocolate chip, amongst others.
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Coffee and tea: Numerous varieties of both, with mixed results.
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Orange and coconut: We've tested various versions, but finding ones we're completely happy with has been difficult.
And that's certainly not an exhaustive list!
It's worth pointing out that these flavours aren't necessarily bad. Some are perfectly reasonable, but they're just not quite good enough for us.
Perhaps we're a little too fussy at times.
We've also experimented with various masking flavours, masking agents and creamers to try to improve difficult formulations. Unfortunately, there's no magic ingredient that fixes everything.
Sometimes you just have to admit defeat.
When a Flavour Is Great, but There's Nowhere to Put It
Interestingly, we also have the opposite problem.
Occasionally we'll find a flavour that's genuinely excellent, but we can't figure out what to do with it.
Honeycomb is a good example. We've been experimenting with a particularly nice honeycomb flavour recently. It works beautifully in whey concentrate, but we haven't managed to get results we're happy with in whey isolate or pea protein.
Then there's cherry. Another excellent flavour, but finding the right product or combination to use it in is surprisingly difficult.
So sometimes the problem isn't developing a good flavour at all. It's finding the right home for it.
And Then There's the Cost...
Even when we've developed something we're happy with, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll become a product.
We've developed a piña colada flavour, for example, but the coconut component presents a problem.
It's expensive, and the minimum order quantity required by the supplier is considerably more than we'd realistically use.
We might love the finished flavour, but it doesn't make much sense to buy a huge quantity of an expensive ingredient that could sit around unused.
These are the less exciting realities of product development that customers don't often see.
The Endless Tweaking
So what actually happens when we're developing a flavour?
We start with small test batches, adjusting flavour concentrations, sweetness levels and sometimes combinations of different flavourings.
You'd be surprised how much difference a tiny adjustment can make.
A flavour might initially seem too weak, but increasing the flavouring doesn't necessarily solve the problem. Sometimes adjusting the sweetness makes a much greater improvement.
Other times, two flavours that taste great individually don't work particularly well together.
And then there are the frustrating experiments where you spend ages making small adjustments, convinced you're almost there, but never quite achieve what you're looking for.
It's a lot of trial and error.
So What's Next?
We're always experimenting with new ideas, and there are plenty more flavours we'd love to try.
Some might eventually appear on our website. Others will undoubtedly join the ever-growing flavour graveyard!
So if you've ever wondered why we don't offer a particular flavour, there's a reasonable chance we've already tried it!
Got a flavour suggestion? We're always happy to hear new ideas. Just don't be too disappointed if we've already tried it and decided it wasn't quite right.
- Dave