Code of Nature is Symrise’s new taste solution platform that celebrates natural and sustainably sourced food and drink ingredients. Launched in New York City on September 27, 2018 with celebrity chefs Michael Fojtasek, Sam Mason, Lior Lev Sercarz and bartender Chris James, Code of Nature unlocks and amplifies the real tastes of nature and fulfills consumer demand for the best natural, honest food and drink.
Symrise believes in food and drink that feels good, is good, and is a source for good. That’s why we came together with our customers to celebrate our new taste solution platform, Code of Nature.
The event was a good opportunity for our customers to discover innovative ways to advance their brands in the name of naturalness:
- Deliver exciting and unique sensory experiences
- Achieve relevance and trust from consumers
- Move away from perceptions of highly processed food
- Create meaningful and compelling stories to engage with consumers
New York City was chosen to host this event because of its vibrancy and energy, which is woven into the color of Code of Nature. Guests experienced a Code of Nature-inspired trek in the Flatiron District, an expo floor with 7 different stations for each Code of Nature element, a chance to meet Chef Lior Lev Sercarz (La Boîte, New York City) and the Symrise team, and enjoy live food and beverage demos with bold flavors by Chef Michael Fojtasek (Olamaie, Austin), Chef Sam Mason (Oddfellows, Brooklyn), and Bartender Chris James (King James Cocktails, Jersey City).
Defining Code of Nature
Code of Nature goes beyond answering consumers’ demand for natural food solutions and transparent food ingredients.
At the launch event, Paul Graham, President Symrise Flavor NA, shared more on the new taste solution platform, “Code of Nature is a movement. It started when we acquired Diana Naturals four years ago. Right across our business, from sourcing, to purchasing, to how we make and process our products. If we now hold ourselves to a higher standard than legislation, this thing will be real, it will be authentic.”
Code of Nature is based on four pillars:
1. Best Naturals
2. Regulatory Guidance
3. Applied Science
4. Consumer Driven
With Code of Nature, we deliver the highest quality, natural ingredients straight from the source that are fresh, flavorful, and ethically sourced. Stay ahead of changing consumer needs with Code of Nature. It’s a solution for real food delivered closest to its natural state.
Celebrating Code of Nature
The launch event helped bring this concept to life and showed off the seven elements of Code of Nature through stations serving food and drink. The seven elements are:
1. Fruity Essentials
2. Botanical Essentials
3. Citrus
4. Simply Vanilla
5. Discover Chicken
6. That’s Onion!
7. Food Bases
Attendees walked around to different interactive stations where they experienced some delicious creations using the seven elements of Code of Nature, including food and drink demos from our celebrity chefs.
Chef Sam Mason, from OddFellows, brought six different flavors of ice cream and sorbet, including a lemon chicken stock sorbet and a caramelized onion ice cream! The creativity we saw using our flavors was endless and impressive! For Chef Mason, the Code of Nature elements are “really clean and really specific,” which gives him the edge he needs.
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For bartender Chris James, owner of King James Cocktails, it’s really about transparency and non-processed ingredients. He believes in the need to be upfront and honest about what’s included in his drinks. He mixed up three different cocktails that encompassed his idea that there is beauty in simplicity. His wish for the food and beverage industry? It was that “people bring it back to basics and execute basic well.” We agree! Let’s take it back to basics and original source: nature.
Chef Michael Fojtasek from Olamaie in Austin, Texas, brought three different dishes that focused on chicken, onion, and chicken and onion. He loves getting bold flavors out of his food and Code of Nature is here to help him do that. Chef Fojtasek is excited that leaders like Symrise are focusing on bringing natural ingredients and flavors to the forefront.
Why We Believe in Code of Nature
We believe in the need for natural food solutions to be honest and authentic and that’s what we do with our products. Not only does the consumer demand it, it’s the right thing to do. We cannot wait for the government to come in – we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Working with the farmers and going directly to the source is a key component of this.
We’re lucky enough to have the relationships to do this. Emmanuel Laroche, VP Marketing Symrise, shared “we’re working with the farmers, the growers, to really have the best products at the source.”
RELATED: Code of Nature Taste Solutions That Amplify The True Tastes of Nature
What makes this possible is our wide global network of sources that includes farmers in Germany who have the best source of onion. We have people on the ground in Madagascar sourcing vanilla and access to citrus from Brazil to South Africa to Sicily.
Lior Lev Sercarz, chef, spice blender and owner of La Boîte, was able to attend as our approach to cooking is similar. As he states, “we both rely on the source.” Lior’s belief in going back to the farmer and looking at how we can grow ethically fits right in with our philosophy.
Noah Michaels, Culinary Team Leader Symrise, bridges the gap between food science and culinary and makes sure that everything we do is anchored in gastronomic culture and history. For him, Code of Nature is exciting because “it really represents a shift in the thinking of the way the flavor industry is run.”
For many years, the flavor industry was about standardizing products. Here at Symrise, we’re more concerned with starting with the best possible products knowing that it’s going to result in a better-quality flavor at the end. All of this comes back to doing things in a sustainable, ethical, transparent way.
In the end, “honestly delivering the real taste of nature” sums up Code of Nature. It is interwoven into everything we do and goes beyond our portfolio of natural products. It is the overarching positioning for Symrise flavors as we go forward into the future.
We want to thank everyone who came out to the event, and we invite you to join us on this journey with Symrise and Code of Nature celebrating natural, honest food and drink - this is only the beginning!
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