With deep roots in vanilla and cocoa, PROVA specializes in crafting tastes that stand the test of time 

Connoisseurs of all things delicious, PROVA continues its long legacy of success by unlocking the full taste potential of the world’s favorite ingredients. Nearly 80 years in the making, the company remains one of the world’s leading specialists in vanilla and cocoa based goods. “We’ve been a family-owned company since 1946,” begins President, Muriel Acat-Vergnet. “The business is currently headed up by its third generation of leadership. Over the years, we’ve taken our original product offering, vanilla, and expanded into cocoa, caramel, and nuts like hazelnut and pistachio.  

“We stand out in the market as specialists in a world of generalists. Our focus is on sweet brown extracts and flavorings for the sweet food and foodservice industries. Being specialized in this way means less is more, always.  

“Having successfully found our niche, we’ve since worked hard to build a reputation for high quality flavors and genuine taste. We have two main areas of expertise, extracting raw materials, and flavor creation.”  

At PROVA, sweet brown extracts and flavors are the name of the game. “We offer qualitative and tailor-made solutions to our customers in bakery, confectionary, dairy, ice-cream and beverage segments, aiming to address their constraints and help them create bold customer experiences. Taste is our top priority in every aspect of the work we do.   

“As industry experts, we offer a large array of services to help inspire and support our clients. This includes our exceptional products, but also assistance in developing their own internal expertise and skill set. We run sensory workshops, and training modules on all things flavor.   

“What’s more, we generate value in lots of unexpected ways. For instance, we offered crucial alternatives during the cocoa crisis that many of our clients relied on to survive. We also have in-house experts who can carry out sensory analysis on a variety of goods. Our creative chefs, Christophe Vicente and Tristan Rousselot, produce inspiring recipes, and they work alongside flavorists to ensure everything is just right,” Muriel details.   

One of the company’s most unique offerings is its sensory analysis service. “PROVASENS® is our sensory analysis department. It’s managed by Elodie Giret, Head of the Sensory Application and Analysis Laboratory, who has been working with us for over 12 years. Sensory analysis is crucial to assessing and describing the intensity of taste, and flavor profiles of various products such as desserts, cookies, chocolates, ice creams, and syrups,” she shares.  

“We offer our customers tailored sensory workshops, created to develop their expertise and work using a common aromatic language. In doing so, we bring together teams from various departments like research and development, marketing, and sales to come up with a base for new flavor development. Our expertise goes from vanilla to cocoa, caramel, pistachio, and beyond.”  

Global expansion strategy 

Over the course of its 80-year tenure, PROVA has established itself as a major player in the global market. “Our global presence includes 70 major countries on all five continents. We have partnerships with global, national, and local companies in a variety of regions, working with clients of all sizes. Our strategy going forward is to strengthen our position in countries where we already have a commercial presence.   

“As part of our global expansion strategy, we’ve recently established our new product plant in Thailand. This gives us closer proximity to our APAC customers, allowing us to provide better service through an improved supply chain. This, in turn, means we can offer shorter lead times on a variety of goods and services.  

“Equally, this maneuver was about expanding local applications and building up our network of flavoring laboratories. Our goal is to provide a better cultural experience, with improved knowledge of local tastes and greater responsiveness in terms of research and development,” Muriel reveals.   

Sustainable sourcing 

Sourcing raw materials from across the globe, PROVA takes on an active role as an ethical and sustainable manufacturer. “As a leading company in vanilla and cocoa extracts,” Muriel continues, “we place ethical sourcing at the very heart of our strategy. We were one of the founding members of the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative (SVI), which was launched in 2015. It’s a voluntary industry program, with the aim of promoting a long-term stable supply of high-quality, natural vanilla. Most importantly, it ensures all our products come from socially and environmentally sustainable sources.   

“We are actively contributing to the promotion of more sustainable vanilla sourcing throughout the industry, by committing to source 50 percent of our vanilla beans through sustainable practices by 2030. Regarding cocoa, we plan on taking it even further, by sourcing 100 percent of our cocoa sustainably over the same period.”  

It’s clear that when it comes to sustainability, PROVA knows the way ahead. Looking forward to the company’s next chapter, Muriel considers what else could be on the horizon: “Our goal, going forward, is to be recognized as the natural choice for sweet brown flavors worldwide. In other words, we want to be renowned for exceptional product specialties and held closely in the hearts and minds of our customers.   

“Our carefully handcrafted approach to customer service and experience makes PROVA a great place to work. These values have kept us unified for nearly eight decades, and I have no doubt they will continue to drive our success in the future,” she concludes.   

www.prova.fr