Come See Us in Charlotte!

We are at booth #308.  Come see the team and taste the amazing creations we've put together!

IFF Featured on CUNY-TV!

Recently, IFF was invited to explain the science of flavors on a local news-magazine style television show called "Science & U," with the City University of New York. The show focuses on a new topic each episode and our flavors piece was part of a larger theme of Science and Food.

Senior Flavorist Rich Dandrea, based in our South Brunswick, NJ facility, spoke with Carol Anne Riddell on the art and science of flavors. Rich does a great job simplifying the process for the audience and shows how he makes a very basic citrus flavor with a twist.

The episode can be seen on line on the show's website: http://www.cuny.tv/show/scienceandu

The IFF episode starts at about the 9:52 mark and lasts for about 4 1/2 minutes, but believe us, you'll want to see the whole show!  Kudos to the Science & U team for a great and informative program!

New IFF Flavors Site in Delhi, India!

This morning saw the opening ceremonies for our brand new flavors site in Delhi.  It was a beautiful, Indian-themed event attended by over 30 journalists.  We're still getting photos, but here are a few to whet your appetites!  Here's the press release.

Above, Flavors President Hernan Vaisman gets prepped for the event.  Below, Karen Stanton, who organized the event, dances with one of the performers.

Chairman and CEO Doug Tough addresses the guests

The Delhi Team poses in front of the new site

We'll post more as the pics arrive.  In the meanwhile, enjoy!

What a Great Day in San Antonio!

 A warm welcome from the IFF Team!

Here are a few shots from RCA 2012.  Awesome event, wonderful visitors, and all our food made it to the booth this year!  If you want more details, see our press room.

 Lesa, Kevin, and Jenny

 Lesa sets up 

 Ready for our guests

 The colors of Kaleidoscope

We're Baa-aaack!

So come see us at the 2012 RCA tomorrow, booth 409 in San Antonio!

We'll be showing our creations inspired by Kaleidoscope, IFF's unique methodology for analyzing and interpreting consumer trends.  We don't want to give it away, but think of camping, healthy and nostalgic indulgence, extraordinary cheese, and buzz-worthy tail mix!

We'll report back on the show with impressions and photos from our favorite event of the year.

See you there!!

IFF's Flavors Expertise in the Wall Street Journal

IFF Flavorist Marie Wright lent her expertise to the Wall Street Journal for an article that appeared today on how seemingly disparate flavors pair well together.

It's always great to see members of our team help shed light on this fascinating science!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

A few weeks ago, we told you about our new Herb Garden at our North American Culinary Center site. What a difference a few weeks of rain, warmth, and sunshine makes!

Our customers, employees, visitors, and of course, the culinary team are all enjoying this wonderful garden for its beauty, color, smells and tastes.  It's been so exciting to watch it go from a plan to a beautiful showplace - one that we can enjoy as it grows into place. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Chef David's Morel Tale

Spring is here and the morel mushroom season has come and gone in New Jersey.

Executive Chef Kevin McDermott, culinary intern Courtney Reed, and I spent many weekends and lunch hours running out to check on various likely spots and finally, around the second week in April, we found some of these little gems. Once you find a morel in the wild, you are hooked!

For us, the feeling is equal to a kid finding Easter eggs filled with candy. I find it simply addicting to hunt mushrooms!  Why?  I appreciate good food, especially the free stuff courtesy of mother nature.

Once we found them, we came back to the same spots over the next two weeks to find more morels, and bigger ones too. It's very easy to run out in your backyard and find mushrooms, it's much harder to find specific varieties. Once you have found spot where these mushrooms grow, you can rely on them to come back year after year for some time.

Morels are often found in old apple orchards, groves of elms, ash, or tulip poplar trees, For those of you who have not yet discovered the exciting world of mushroom hunting, morels are probably the best place to start.

WARNING!  Before you run out and eat what looks like morels to you, become as educated as you can about the subject!  Buy a book or ten on hunting mushrooms in general. I found Morels, by Michael Kuo, and The Complete Mushroom Hunter, by Gary Lincoff to be particularly good for those just getting started.

Joining a mushroom club and going to forays with experts is also a great way to learn. Finding wild mushrooms is only part of the fun, as they are also one of the yummiest things you can eat.

Now we have to wait until it's chanterelle season!  Until then, it's a great time to plant our vegetable gardens.

Happy Hunting!

Our New Herb Garden

Our roles as chefs definitely bring with them some great opportunities - this time, in the form of a gorgeous herb garden!


The North American team has been putting the garden together for a while and it's great to see it coming together so beautifully!

The photos below include the construction of our herb garden Some facts about the garden - Good organic soil, everything sourced locally including the hardscape which is manufactured in the area. Plants supplied by a local grower.

A local plantscape company did a great job in helping with the design and plant / herb selection. Irrigation will help insure some good growth and yields for this summers use in Culinary presentations, R&D analysis, and education and identification for our flavorists and application team.

Did I mention it smells great out there.

IFF's Marie Wright in the Wall Street Journal

Our own Marie Wright was featured in a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal.  You can read the story here.  Along with the story is this video, featuring some of the CulinEssence Team tasting a reduced sodium mac and cheese product.  Enjoy!

Chef David Talks to FoodNavigator-USA on Health & Wellness

Chef David of our CulinEssence Team had a great chat with Caroline Scott-Thomas of FoodNavigator-USA last week.  Click here to hear the interview where he shares how IFF helps customers formulate healthier products - for both their iconic brands and for their new products.  Check it out here!

IFF Gives Back to our Future Chefs

We are really proud to announce that IFF is supporting future chefs through its scholarship funds at both the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales University.  Members of the CulinEssence Team are graduates of these great schools, we get many of our interns from them, and we do all we can to support the continuing development of students of the culinary arts. 

In addition, we're thrilled to announce that we are continuing our support of CulinaryCorps®.  Founded in 2006 by Christine Carroll, CulinaryCorps Inc. is the nation’s first service organization designed specifically for culinary professionals.  The group enables chefs, cooks, food educators, and culinary students to volunteer their professional skills and tackle some of America’s most critical food challenges: emergency hunger relief, cooking and nutrition education, healthy food access, childhood wellness, and culinary heritage preservation.  Since IFF's philanthropic mission is in support of children's education, we have been supporting the areas specific to cooking and nutrition education for kids. 

We're proud to work for an organization with an eye to the future and its heart in the right place.  We remember how hard we worked in school and how tough it was for some of us and our friends financially.  Giving to these organizations supports our future chefs and gives something special to kids that can never be taken away - the gift of cooking.