Category: I.T.S. news

The world’s tastiest microbrewery?

We have just installed a new microbrewery on-site at our Newbury facility. We love playing around with flavours and beer, so it was a no-brainer to get a brewery up and running.
This new equipment allows us to stress test our flavours on all types of beer that we brew up. Not to mention, it’s great for a Friday afternoon and staff parties.

Using flavours in the brewing process

Flavours have so many advantages to making life easier and cheaper in the brewing process. From adding juicy and citrus flavours to enhance beers, to deep chocolate and coffee notes for depth in dark beers. You can also totally transform the flavour of a beer with a brave flavour not tried in beer before.
Flavourings allow brewers to lower costs and enhance flavour with a simple drop of natural flavouring.

A flavour house owned and run by brewers

Mike Bagshaw explains “I’ve been brewing at home for over 20 years, and have always played around with flavourings. I make a mean bitter orange wheat beer, which always goes down well with my friends.”
“It got to a point where we saw so many breweries starting to use flavours that we had to take it to the next level. We wanted a straightforward flavour offering for brewers to use. We now have a brilliant range of flavours that work perfectly in many styles of beer.”

Request flavour samples to give it a go

Interested in flavours for your brewery, or fancy coming in to try out some flavours? Get in touch for a chat.

Once again we’ve proven our dedication to the highest class in food safety by being awarded BRC AA.

Safer flavours from I.T.S.

We’ve done it again! Another year, another BRC AA  awarded. Following a successful audit in July we were officially given this year’s BRC AA certificate in early September.

Full credit goes to our Technical and Production Teams that were heavily involved with the audit and ensured all our high standards were continually met.

Why is BRCGS so important?

The BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard has set the benchmark for over 20 years. Adopted by over 20,000 sites in 130 countries, the standard is accepted by 70% of the top 10 global retailers, 60% of the top 10 quick-service restaurants, and 50% of the top 25 manufacturers.

Mike Bagshaw Owner and Founder of I.T.S. said “I’m so proud of the team and that we can continually provide our customers with the utmost confidence in our food safety and hygiene. For me, the grade was never in doubt. I know how focused the team is in keeping standards at the highest level”.

We have invested to install and commission a high-quality UHT pilot plant at our facility in Newbury.

We don’t like to blow our own trumpet, but we’ve made a real mark in the flavoured milk market over the last few years. If you’re a fan of milkshakes, we’re pretty confident you’ll have already tried our flavours. We’ve now built up a large range of natural flavourings that work perfectly in both pasteurised milk products and UHT treated milk products.

Quality UHT Flavourings Guaranteed 

Through the success we’ve had working with milk products we’ve invested to install and commission a high-quality UHT pilot plant at our facility in Newbury. The UHT plant will not only make sure all our flavourings have been fully UHT tested, but also offers the opportunity for customers to run trials alongside us using the machine.

This gives our customers peace of mind that the flavours they receive will survive the UHT process and be ready for use in development and production. Often flavours can lose their impact or gain metallic notes through the UHT process, so it is important to know the flavourings can survive the extreme heat treatment.

Customer Satisfaction Drives Innovation in I.T.S. Flavours

Briony Rideout, Dairy and Beverage Innovation Specialist at I.T.S. says “It’s another step towards making our customers lives easier. When they receive flavours from us they can relax, knowing the flavours don’t need any further testing or UHT trials.”

It’s this focus on customer satisfaction that is helping I.T.S. gain so much momentum. Mike Bagshaw, Owner and Founder of I.T.S explains “For us, it’s all about making our customers happy. If they are happy, we are happy. We build the business based purely on the needs of our customers and how best we can accommodate them”.

Get in touch to request some tasty UHT tested flavours or find out how to run your own trials on our pilot plant.

Will the hard seltzer transform the alcoholic drinks market, or is it all hype and no flavour?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the last couple of years, you’ll be aware of the latest craze to hit the alcoholic drinks market. The hard seltzer is providing a healthier alternative to beer and ready to drink alcoholic drinks that usually come packed with sugar.

For anyone doubting the future of the hard seltzer market, forecasts show it will “far surpass” initial predictions of 281 million case sales in the US by 2023, two years early, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. This was echoed by the Stone Brewing CEO, Maria Stipp, who stated “At the current rate, seltzer will pass craft in terms of category size. So, that’s meaningful to us.” This also highlights the huge trend in breweries and distillers getting involved in the hard seltzer market.

What is a hard seltzer?

Hard seltzers are incredibly simple and cheap to produce – carbonated water, with alcohol and flavourings. The product gained fame in the US with the eye-catching White Claw who were the first brand to gain real attention. Since then countless brands and drink developers have jumped on the craze to try to recreate the popular White Claw product.

You’ll be able to spot a hard seltzer a mile off as all the branding seem to follow the same design style – a white can and a splash of bright colour. Brewdog, Smirnoff, Kopparberg are some of the bigger brands to try their hand, but the market is also full of young start-up’s looking to target the growing health-conscious consumer segment.

So, does hard seltzer live up to the promise?

Given all the pretty packaging and huge hype, do these products deliver on flavour? Close, but no cigar. We think they are currently just falling short. Sure, they taste fruity and some even try adding some other ingredients to make them slightly more interesting – but for us, they always end up falling a little flat. It’s a bit like how flavoured water never really hugely took off – yeah, it tastes ok, but not something that’ll blow you away.

We love a little tipple at I.T.S. so took it upon ourselves to pretty much taste all the hard seltzers currently available in UK supermarkets. A very mixed bag of results, some simply didn’t deliver and some offered real promise, however, none blew us away.

One of the biggest issues we found was the complete lack of mouthfeel in the products, which just make them feel very plain and empty. Of course, the lack of sugar is also an issue as we are used to our fruity products being nice and sweet.

Revolutionising the flavour of the hard seltzer

We started thinking, these hard seltzers have so much promise, but aren’t quite there yet – how can we help? We knew they needed to be sweeter and have a more advanced mouthfeel, but still not increase the sugar content. Easy.

Enter our new 100% natural sweetness and mouthfeel booster, SweetLITE Body. By using SweetLITE Body you can add both the missing sweetness and mouthfeel to a hard seltzer without big changes in the ingredients listed on the can. This game-changing solution is simply labelled as a natural flavouring and inulin.

Problem solved. The drink is expected to take more than 15 per cent of the US beer and cider market by 2024, and also showing similar signs of growth in the UK.

Want to give it a go? Get in touch to request a sample of SweetLITE Body.

Our premium range of natural flavourings are made from actual fruit extracts and distillates.

We’ve been busy developing some new braver flavourings perfect for summer launches.

This summer is sure to be packed with new summer releases and plenty of exotic flavours. This year more than ever customers will be on the lookout for escapism and exciting flavours to transport them to the feeling of being on holiday.

Of course the big flavours like pineapple, mango and passion fruit will be everywhere, but it’s time to do some flavour discovery. If you’re looking for the ideal flavour for an eye-catching limited edition product, or maybe create an exciting hybrid flavour – we have been busy developing a new range of braver summer flavours that will work perfectly.

Brazilian Orange Flavouring

We’ll start things off nice and gently with a new twist on a classic. Everyone loves orange, but it’s time to give it that extra premium feel. Trust us, this one is like the juiciest orange you’ve ever tasted.

Request Brazilian Orange Flavouring sample

Loquat Flavouring

Here’s a little known flavour that we are sure is destined for big things. Think a mix between apricot and peach – heaven, right? This super fresh tasting fruit is big in South America and often used in smoothies and part of fruit salads.

Request Loquat Flavouring sample

Ambarella Flavouring

Now, this is where we start getting a little braver. Ambarella is a little known tropical fruit that is also known as spondias dulcis. This is typically found in countries such as Jamaica, Costa Rica and Malaysia. It’s a versatile flavour that can be used for both sweet and savoury foods. It’s often found in fruity curries and also works well with lime and chilli.

Request Ambarella Flavouring sample

Carambola Flavouring

Carambola, or you might know it as Star Fruit is another fruit hailing from South East Asia. This cheeky little number is something slightly different. It has a nice subtle sweetness but presents a tart and slightly sour undertone which gives a really unique flavour that is hard to match. Certainly one to give a go if you’re looking for something a bit different. Plus, who doesn’t love the sound of Star Fruit Flavour?

Request Carambola Flavouring sample

Elderflower FTNF Flavouring

No big surprises or discoveries here, but this one fits perfectly into our growing FTNF (From the Named Fruit) range. Elderflower is the perfect British summertime flavour for beverages and now this delicious flavour comes in FTNF – what’s not to like?

Request Elderflower FTNF Flavouring sample

Persian Style Lime Flavouring

Who doesn’t love lime? We couldn’t have a list of summer flavours and not include it. This one isn’t just any old lime. This one really packs a punch and is fresh as a lime flavour is going to get. Great for that extra special or premium lime product.

Request Persian Style Lime Flavouring sample

Kiwi and Cucumber Flavouring

We’re saving the best until last here. This one is just possibly the most refreshing thing you’ll ever try. We had this as part of our Flavour Trends Report this year and it’s safe to say it went down a storm.

Surprisingly this one works a treat in milk drinks…trust us. Of course, it also fits like a hand in glove for regular drinks – hard seltzer, anyone?

Request Kiwi and Cucumber Flavouring sample

Get in touch if you’d like to request any samples of our new braver summer flavours.

It’s finally here, the answer to your biggest headache. I.T.S. present the definite all-natural sweetness and mouthfeel booster for beverages.

The bane of most beverage technologists lives is trying to reduce sugar content, but still maintain the same great taste and desired mouthfeel. Well, the team at I.T.S. has gone and done it.

100% NATURAL SWEETNESS AND MOUTHFEEL BOOSTER

The new 100% natural ingredient has been proven to reduce sugar content by up to 50% in a variety of beverage applications. The new product joins our already impressive range of sugar reduction solutions as part of our SweetLITE™ range. We’ve labelled it SweetLITE™ Body as it provides the taste and texture combined to give the consumer the perception that the product is full of sugar.

There is simply no easier way to remove calories from product development – the natural powder is completely water soluble and carries no colour changes when used at recommended levels. It’s incredibly versatile and suitable for most applications and all pH ranges. SweetLITE™ Body is as tough as ingredients come and not affected by temperature or forms of processing.

SUGAR REDUCTION MADE EASY

We aren’t ones for trying to dazzle you with science or over complicate things – no processing instructions needed, just drop in the recommended amount, give it a quick stir and you are good to go. What’s better is it’s simply labelled as a natural flavouring and dietary fibre on your packaging.

Briony Rideout, I.T.S. Beverage Specialist explains “It’s brilliant to offer such a remarkable solution. When I first tried it I couldn’t quite believe how simple and effective it is. SweetLITE™ Body has really hit the ground running, and we are already underway using the product in many new trials with brands.”

I.T.S. LEADING THE WAY IN BEVERAGE INGREDIENTS

SweeLITE™ Body once again proves the success of I.T.S. within the beverage ingredient sector. We’ve been running for just over 10 years and already have some of the most talked about solutions in the market, not to mention always staying one step ahead.

Mike Bagshaw, Owner and Founder of I.T.S. says “I’m incredibly proud of I.T.S. on the release of our new SweetLITE™ Body application. We are a small team but consistently produce big results. In a sector with so much noise and incredibly overcomplicated ingredients, we produce straightforward and effective solutions for our customers that always come out on top.”

FREE NEXT DAY SUGAR REDUCTION SAMPLES

If you’d like us to put our money where our mouth is, get in touch and we’ll send you over some free samples to try out.