Crafting the nation’s favorite flavors for over 20 years, Custom Flavors expands to new horizons 

Take a talented team of scientists, top quality ingredients and a pinch of passion, and you have Custom Flavors. Initially established as Custom Ingredients back in 2005, the company has been crafting delectable flavors for the food and beverage industry for over 20 years. Its tagline – ‘Great Taste By Design’ – is representative of the business’ commitment to providing the very best, fully comprehensive services for its customers, from custom capabilities right through to in-depth, product development processes. Whether clients are searching for a simple solution or complex flavor profile, Custom Flavors is dedicated to being a trusted partner in all aspects of food, beverage and supplement manufacturing.  

In 2025, Custom Flavors is proud to celebrate its 20th anniversary, signifying two decades of flavor innovation and industry excellence. Food Chain is joined by Alex Wendling, President of Custom Flavors, and Matt Pulskamp, Vice President of Operations, to discuss the company’s history and share behind-the-scenes insights into one of its biggest projects to date. 

“My father, Mike Wendling, and Co-founder, Steve Bishop, established Custom Flavors back in 2005,” Alex begins, reflecting on the business’ journey thus far. “We started by providing flavors, colors and beverage mixes to my father’s existing relationships from over 30 years in the industry. As we’ve grown, we’ve tailored our approach to focus on flavors and formulation support for, not only beverage bases and mixes, but bars, gummies, and supplements. We started out in a single unit – around 3500 square feet – in San Clemente, but we’ve since expanded into three facilities across Southern California totaling more than 60,000 square feet.  

“Today, we specialize in natural, organic flavors, but we also service the artificial flavor market. We offer liquid and powder flavors in a large range of profiles, from fruits and desserts to nostalgic blends, anything from apple to cinnamon to bubblegum and chocolate. We also support product developers and innovation and marketing teams. We have an applications team on site and a commercial kitchen/test lab, and we can help with formulations for beverages, confectionary, baked goods, and sports nutrition.”  

Investment and expansion 

Building on its existing legacy, Custom Flavors is thrilled to announce its latest endeavor: a new, state-of-the-art facility in North Carolina. Strategically situated in the bustling city of Concord, just outside of Charlotte, the new location will strengthen Custom Flavors’ presence in the East Coast and Midwestern markets, offering the same fast lead times and exceptional quality loved by its West Coast customers to a whole new region. The site will boast 53,000 square feet of R&D laboratories, processing areas, offices, and more, making it one of the company’s most significant investments thus far.  

“The expansion into North Carolina is currently our largest project. This is a multi-phase expansion, starting with our liquid and powder production to speed the service to our customers on the East Coast and in the Midwest,” Matt explains. “Once we are live, we will continue to expand our administrative and commercial capabilities within the facility, including the R&D, pilot and applications labs. Our liquid capabilities with then be further expanded, growing our capacity by three times.”  

That’s not all, however. Whilst the North Carolina project is a major part of the company’s wider growth strategy, Custom Flavors is still reinvesting in and innovating its initial California facility to provide the very best services for its customers everywhere.  

“While we grow into North Carolina, we’ll continue to invest in our California facilities. We’re upgrading our equipment, processes and infrastructure. This includes green projects. For example, we’re installing 200 additional solar panels to produce our flavors with 100 percent renewable energy within the next five years,” Matt continues. “It’s important to note that our expansion, although accelerated, is rooted in strategic, sustainable growth. We want our North Carolina facility to replicate the same ‘feel’ that we’ve created in California, so that the personality of the company really shines through and we can build the same great culture on a different coast.”  

Hub of innovation 

With further expansion on the horizon, Custom Flavors is well-positioned to uphold its market-leading status as it continues to impress its clients and flourish further into the future.  

“The expansion of our company will allow us greater capacity, both in North Carolina and California, and we aim to further grow our customer bases and product lines. The increased capacity will help us to grow our volume; we’re able to keep very short lead times, and relatively low minimum order quantities (MOQ’s), and I think that puts us at an advantage over some of our competitors within the market,” Matt affirms. “With some of the creative ways we undertake our processes and the cross training we have within our team, we’re able to pivot quickly. We can take on new products of varying sizes to help us nurture new growth.  

“The amount of capacity we’re adding allows us to offer more to our customers. There’s over five acres of greenfield next to our North Carolina facility, so we have space to support further growth in the future,” Alex adds. “We see our presence in North Carolina as a launchpad into Eastern Canada, as well as Latin America. The Port of Miami is much closer to us here, so we see the potential for tremendous growth within those markets. We’re also looking to grow some of our existing business in Europe using the expansive Charlotte Inland Port.  

“Our continued long-term goal is to be a hub of innovation for two key markets – Charlotte and LA – so that, whether our customers are on the East or West Coast, we’ll have an easily accessible space to bring their ideas to life together.”  

Proud partnerships 

As Custom Flavors embarks on its next chapter, Matt concludes our interview by taking a moment to thank some of the partners that have helped make this project possible.  

“Every great project and organization is underpinned by strong relationships, both within the company and its extended supply chain, and we’ve been blessed with a lot of great partners. Throughout the North Carolina project, A M King, Todd Street Inc, Hinson Electric, Triangle Process Equipment, BSI Engineering, Superior Scale, and Initech have all been excellent,” he finishes.  

“In the same way that we treat our customers with great respect, we’re in the business of relationships as much as we are flavors, and the same goes within our supply chain. We have very close relationships built on trust, and that trust shows through the quality of the equipment, solutions and raw materials we receive. We’re really proud of all of our partners; every one of them has been a true asset to our continued growth.”   

www.customflavors.com