Innovation is always on the menu at Beck Flavors, where bold ideas become craveable creations
With over 100 years of experience, Beck Flavors delivers quality custom flavorings to clients across the US. From humble beginnings in vanilla production, the company has since diversified into a range of exciting new categories. As President, Matt Carr, begins: “Beck Flavors was founded in 1904. At the time, we exclusively manufactured vanilla for dairy products and sodas. A few years later, we saw the advent of ice cream, which really helped launch the business into a national operation. We soon became one of the country’s foremost providers of vanilla flavoring.
“The company remained focused on vanilla until the early 1980s. Our team at the time noticed that flavored coffee was rising in popularity, and they decided to diversify into the beverage category. We’re now experts in coffee and tea flavors, as well as alcohol, which has become one of our fastest growing market segments.
“We specialize specifically in sweet flavors, the kind of taste experience you might expect from confectionery, hot beverages, and soft drinks. We also deliver ingredients for baked goods, sauces, syrups, and plant-based alternatives. Another big growth area for us at the moment is nutraceuticals, which are essentially meal replacement and supplement shakes.
“Our health food range has also grown considerably. We now offer a variety of products with enhanced vitamin content, as well as pre- and pro-biotic goods. Most of the time we’re looking to develop tastes that are suited to the fruity, sweet, or spicy palette. Within the health food category, there’s not a lot on offer that really suits those tastes, so we’re offering something new on that front.”
Championing innovation
Ongoing innovation keeps the company at the forefront of flavor. As Matt details: “Our research and development initiatives are split into two main categories. We have teams working on client briefs, developing new tastes to suit a specific product or specification — at the same time, we are also working on new, innovative products of our own.
“We’ve developed numerous new flavors and ingredients over the years – for example, one of our technicians recently created a new butterfly pea extract. Before the flavor was FDA approved, we decided to put it through some trials, testing the extract for shelf life, pH, and suitable applications. We just recently received accreditation, and since we’ve already gone through testing, we can introduce the new flavor directly to our product offering.
“We really believe in giving our people and their ideas as much proactive investment as possible. Giving that idea the right support and attention up front has now paid off, with shorter lead times and much faster turnaround.”
Efficient in every sense of the word, Beck Flavors also does its part to protect the planet. As Matt discusses: “We work with a recycling partner to ensure none of the plastic that comes through our facility ends up in a landfill. We also have a dedicated team for washing any plastic packaging or materials we use, so that it’s ready for recycling or reuse. That helps us manage a significant amount of waste, as we send out several truckloads each month.
“Waste management has been one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced in terms of our sustainability mission, and we’re very proud of the impact we’re now making. I’m happy to report that most of the plastic that passes through our facility is now recycled or repurposed in different applications.” 
Prioritizing people and planet
Eco-initiatives are just one aspect of Beck Flavor’s community driven approach. As Matt affirms: “When taking over the business, I wanted to spend more time investing in charitable causes. It’s important to me that Beck Flavors is an empowering and enjoyable place to work. Through philanthropy, our teams benefit from a sense of purpose that goes beyond profits.
“We’ve partnered with Adopt A Highway, which is a sponsorship scheme that supports environmental protection, and helps get our name out there at the same time. We oversee a mile stretch of highway, not far from our headquarters. Our teams go out and clean it around four times a year, picking up trash and maintaining the surrounding areas.
“We also consider community impact when taking on new customers. For example, we work closely with World Coffee Research. Not only does this business represent one of our largest industry segments, but it also upholds the same people and planet first values.
“Their work is focused on making sure farmers around the world have access to shared sustainable farming practices.
They understand how to overcome issues with coffee procurement and production and are consistently working toward more ethical standards across the industry. It’s an organization we’re very proud to support.”
Ethical production and community spirit will no doubt continue to support Beck Flavors’ success. Looking to the future, Matt considers what’s next for the business: “First and foremost, the customer is always king. Everyone on our team is empowered to make our customer’s dreams a reality.
“Our long-term mission is to scale up our capabilities to deliver on an even wider range of flavor-based requests. That includes a new powder manufacturing facility, and some exciting new product lines of our own,” he concludes.