T. Hasegawa introduces tomato boostract flavour modifier to solve supply shortages
T. Hasegawa USA, one of the world’s top food & beverage flavor manufacturers, is addressing supply chain shortages with a novel technology designed to decrease reliance on tomato paste, in response to rising material costs and product shortages.
This week, the company introduced Tomato BOOSTRACT™, a natural flavor modifier that amplifies the taste and texture of tomatoes in a wide variety of products ranging from sauces, ketchup, soups, salsa and more. The new technology was developed in response to severely limited tomato crop supplies in the U.S. as record summer rains saturated California tomato fields, shortening the planting season and diminishing supply of raw tomatoes. This is on top of already rising material costs for tomatoes, which have gone up as much as 80 percent since 2021 due to previous U.S. droughts and other growing challenges that impacted supply.
T. Hasegawa’s newest technology is part of the BOOSTRACT™ line of natural flavor modifiers, which enable food and beverage manufacturers to deliver a consistent taste experience to consumers. The BOOSTRACT line, which includes specific variations for dairy, butter, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, cheese, mushroom and more, ensures that the sensations of flavor, taste and characteristics are true to the original product recipe. It can increase flavor intensity and amplify mouthfeel to give a richer profile, while replacing taste characteristics that are lost during the harvesting and production process.
Tomato paste is a key ingredient in the vast number of food products in both foodservice and grocery store shelves. Known for delivering a burst of flavor intensity, tomato paste blends the umami and sweet tastes that result from cooking tomatoes for a long period of time. Due to its strong flavor, most recipes only require a small amount of tomato paste but it’s a foundational component of nearly all packaged or canned products featuring tomatoes. The R&D team at T. Hasegawa determined that use of Tomato BOOSTRACT can successfully reduce use of tomato paste by nearly 25 percent.
