The firm's Saporesse range comprises traditional brewer's yeast extracts and Synergy's lactic yeast extracts. Both are completely natural and pH stable, according to the company.
Brewer's yeast extract is a relatively well-known flavour enhancer, but lactic yeast extract has a neutral, pale colour and even milder taste profile, making it suitable for more delicate applications such as dairy products and cheese-based sauces. Synergy claims that Saporesse has been shown to dramatically improve taste and control costs in many end products.
"Creating the ideal taste in a food is always challenging, but even more so when the product's flavour is very delicate or when trying to minimise the use of synthetic ingredients," said Andrew O'Mahony, Synergy's marketing manager.
"Synergy's launch of Saporesse is timely and exciting. Using our expertise in natural ingredients and flavours, plus our extensive experience in savoury products, we can help food producers achieve inspiring and appealing tastes."
The yeast market is growing on the back of increasing demand for processed foods and a dynamic growth in food production, offsetting stagnant growth in developed countries of around 1 to 2 per cent.
In addition, the market for yeast extract-based flavour enhancers has been expanding in parallel to the waning popularity of hydrolysed vegetable proteins (HVPs). Food makers are increasingly moving away from including HVPs in their formulations and towards yeast extract flavour enhancers, driven by concerns that acid-hydrolysed HVP, produced using hydrochloric acid, could be potentially carcinogenic due to the 3-MCPD levels.
But European yeast production faces new challenges. The region has dominated the production of speciality yeast products, such as yeast extracts, for years - in a global €1.17 billion market, a handful of European suppliers, including BioSpringer, DSM, and Bel Industries, currently supply two-third's of the world's 100,000 MT consumption.
However, European suppliers are facing the growing influence of Asia, and in particular China, on the global market. This reflects the situation in a number of other ingredients categories.
Access to cheaper manpower and reduced manufacturing costs, on a comparative basis with Europe, have given Chinese yeast suppliers a tool for undercutting European prices.
Nonetheless, the yeast extract market remains highly competitive. Synergy's new range has been developed for use in sauces and soups, snacks, seasonings, savoury bakery, retorted applications, ready meals and dairy products. According to the UK-based company, they represent a simple, cost-effective way to enhance taste and can also reduce salt use, while permitting clean label declarations.
Synergy is the new name for Carbery's flavours and savoury ingredients business. It was formed last month by the joining of Synergy Flavours, Customblend Ingredients, US Flavors & Fragrances and Carbery Savoury Food Ingredients.
Synergy offers savoury ingredients and sweet and savoury flavours, including a range of natural, nature-identical (NI), organic and suitable for organic flavours. Synergy has production, R&D and technical facilities in Europe and the USA.