Freddy Hirsch, Symrise Partnership Continues to Drive innovation in Local West African Flavours

The Partnership between Symrise and Freddy Hirsch Nigeria is enabling the use of state-of-the-art technology and a global flavour library. It allows the partners to tap into the pulse and valuable insights from African customers, to meet the unique taste preferences of the regional market, and develop competitive solutions in culinary, bakery, confectionery, and dairy.

Every African country knows several examples of hyperlocal flavors.Jollof rice enjoys the greatest popularity as a dish. Through its culinary insights, Symrise and Freddy Hirsch have identified that each country’s jollof rice comes with a unique flavor note.

The product developers have been able to create specific raw-ingredient based flavor notes for each region. A prime example relates to how in Nigeria, people enhance the jollof flavor by a unique smokey note, captured in the famous ‘party jollof’. In Ghana, on the other hand, the cooked tomato note provides a balance to the jollof rice. Other similar flavors with localized notes include the African Basil/scent leaf, an aromatic herb native to West Africa.

The flowers and the leaves of this herb contain a high amount of essential oils and add fragrant flavor to soups, salads, and other local dishes. It serves as a multipurpose and versatile flavor with applications across culinary, medicinal, preservatives and perfumes. In Africa, people know and treasure it under various names: Effirin (Yoruba Tribe); Nchanwu or Ahuji (Igbo Tribe); Daidoya (Hausa Tribe) and Nunum (Ghana).

To achieve their vision of innovating authentic African flavors and tastes, Freddy Hirsch Nigeria and Symrise have invested in research, development, and application laboratories and a manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art quality management systems. In Nigeria, experts develop flavors for various application areas.

They have specialized in savory foods, sweet applications, and beverages tailored to the African market. Because partners act locally, they can tap into the pulse and gain valuable insights from their customers. Also, they can meet the unique taste preferences of the regional market and develop competitive solutions in culinary, bakery, confectionery, and dairy.

These capabilities allow them to develop regional and truly hyperlocal flavors and ingredients for the African markets.Sofiane Berrahmoune, Sub Regional Director, Flavor, Africa Middle East at Symrise says “We can deliver even greater speed to market in Africa.

This strategic partnership with Freddy Hirsch Nigeria will give us deeper access to valuable insights about Africa’s food industry.”In his comments, the Managing Director of Freddy Hirsch Nigeria, Kojo Brifo said “Our partnership with Symrise provides an acceleration of flavor development across West Africa and will increase the creativity of customized flavors, help our customers attain speed to market, and enhance their operational agility.”