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“I’ve been working with Aromatech for about four years now, and I just entered the role of Flavor Assistant last year. My background is actually a major in Chemistry. Honestly, getting into this industry was spontaneous. After college, I was looking for a career path… medical, cosmetics, I wasn’t sure. I had a friend in the industry, so I started researching Flavor Chemistry. I had never heard of it before, but the more I read, the more interested I became. I applied, and it quickly became a passion.”
“Science is philosophy, it is trial and error. The biggest challenge is balancing creativity with real-world limitations: regulatory constraints, pricing, and stability. You also have to consider how the flavor interacts with the final product matrix. A flavor might taste amazing in water, but when you put it into a muffin or a tea, the heat or the other ingredients change everything.”
“My favorite win was an Apple flavor. It wasn’t a generic candy apple; it was a complex, fibrous profile, like biting into the real fruit. This was in the early stages of my flavor creation training. I had to break down the GC (Gas Chromatography) data, use my training, but ultimately trust my own instincts to match the target. Winning that project was very fulfilling because it proved I could translate the science into a sensory experience.”
“Trust your knowledge, but never stop learning. You have to be open-minded. I’ve worked under multiple different leaders here. I took a little bit of knowledge from each of them and combined it to form my own style. Be confident in what you know, but listen to the experience around you.”
“The lab is the heart of the company, but it works like a clock, all the gears have to move together. We work with Marketing to understand the trends, Production to ensure the flavor creates no issues on the scale-up, and Quality Control to maintain standards. We also work very closely with Application Technologists. I rely on their knowledge of how my flavor will perform in a specific food matrix. It’s a constant feedback loop.”
“Tea infusions. I’ve seen a lot of research lately on tea being used outside of beverages. We are seeing Matcha and Black Tea notes appearing in bakery and specialty products. It makes sense because society is moving toward functional benefits. People care about health, relaxation, and antioxidants, so tea profiles are expanding into new categories.”
“It has to be the Pepperoni. It was my very first creation. I took a lot of pride in it because I really researched the culinary process, how the meat is smoked, how it’s cured with salt, the black pepper, the paprika. I wanted to replicate the experience of a cooked pepperoni on a pizza: the oils, the fat, the savory cured meat, and the smoke appeal. It’s definitely a good flavor.”
“I think it’s our unity. We call it a ‘Flavor Family.’ Almost no one here planned from A to Z to be in this industry; we come from biology, medical backgrounds, cosmetic chemistry, and culinary arts. Because we all have different backgrounds and cultures, we bring different perspectives to the bench. That diversity is what makes us different.”
