“One of my favorite aspects of my role here at Symrise is that it brings me full circle,” says Gaelle Dami, Director Global Marketing Communication, Food & Beverage. “I’m inspired by the products I see on the shelves of stores, and then through the work we do here, I’m able to influence what actually ends up on those shelves. We’re always looking for the next big thing, and then working on how we can turn that into a real product consumers will love.”
“In a nutshell, what we do is translate consumer and markets needs and trends into winning taste solutions for our customers. But doing that requires huge amounts of knowledge and teamwork, both between our interdisciplinary teams here and also with our customers and our research and insight teams across the globe.”
“One of the most important things we do is to monitor ever-changing global consumer trends so that we can respond quickly to emerging consumer preferences, and even predict these before they become mass-market trends,” Jan continues. “As well as working with our colleagues around the world, we run insight studies and work with trend hunters. We’re always asking; ‘What’s going on in the streets? What’s driving the first influencers in a market?’ You need local insight to know what will work in a specific market. Trend hunters give us this, speaking to food bloggers, restaurants, cafes, experts… everyone really. Trends and ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere.”
“This sort of research is very proactive, and means we can offer our customers valuable insight into what consumers want. But of course, that’s only one side of the story. In the world of sweet treats, we’ve identified four key areas: natural goodness, healthy treats, premium indulgence and emotional discoveries. However, these four areas are not separate at all in consumers’ minds; many times they overlap. For example, health conscious consumers also often want natural products, and there is an increasing interest in the provenance of products. They want to know that the treat they are enjoying hasn’t come at the expense of the people involved in its production.”