Interview with product developer Yvan Keijlewer
At Natural Spices you can go for small and bulk packaging of flavorings, the development of your own products under private label and, as of recently, also for herb blends for home use. Both the professional and the home cook are in the right place with us when it comes to 100% natural flavorings of the highest quality. But before you have them at home, product developer Yvan has already put a lot of knowledge, passion and love into them. We’d like to give you a look behind the scenes and interviewed Yvan about the development process of the flavorings. At the end of this blog you’ll also find some nice tips if you want to get started yourself!
Working from the heart
Yvan has an enormous passion for cooking. He prefers to share this passion and his culinary skills with family and friends. In his dishes he happily uses herbs such as oregano, basil and rosemary, because Italian cuisine is his favorite. For a delicious Melanzane alla parmigiana you can definitely turn to him. Yvan works from his heart; with all his passion and drive he develops the products for Natural Spices.
Development process – products under private label
When you walk into the test kitchen, you are immersed in the atmosphere of herbs and spices. One thing is certain: Yvan is enthusiastically working on developing new products. From time to time he lets you taste something, while vividly explaining what he’s working on. The whiteboard on the wall is full of new ideas and there are various samples on the table, ready to be tested or sent to the customer.
Yvan says: “You can come to us to optimize existing products, but also for the development and production of new products. At all times we talk with the customer and list all requirements: Which product properties must the product have? Think, for example, fat-free, low-sugar, salt-free and allergen-free. Which ingredients should or should not be included? What should the perfect color and texture look like? I then get to work with these requirements. I look at which existing raw materials we have in-house to experiment with. Within the company we are certified for these raw materials, so that we can assure the customer of a top-quality product.”
Yvan continues: “The biggest challenge lies in creating the perfect balance of flavor, color and viscosity. It is precisely this challenge that I enjoy most about bespoke work,” he says with a smile. “To achieve this, I need to add ingredients in reduced amounts or remove them. Because I am the contact person and there are no intermediaries involved, we can act quickly if an adjustment needs to be made. Ultimately we strive for the best result – meeting all the customer’s wishes.”
Would you like to know more about bespoke work? Read here more.
Development process – consumer line
Besides the flavorings under private label and individual flavorings in small and bulk packaging, we recently launched our own herb mixes for home cooks. If you ask Yvan what he considered most important in developing them, he answers: "creating flavor based on 100% natural herbs and without additives. And I took into account the versatile application. For example, you can add the Smoothie Operator to any smoothie and Porky’s Rub to a roast, pork tenderloin AND chop, just to name a few examples." Speaking of Yvan’s favorite herb mix: “Rosemary’s Chicken!”
Want to know more about the consumer line? We wrote a nice blog about it!
Get started at home with herb mixes and sauces?
Yvan says: “In principle there are no rules to making a homemade herb mix or sauce. Keep in mind that all products already have a tasty flavor on their own. Flavorings support that; so you don't need to use a lot of them,” advises Yvan. He continues: “pepper and salt by default give an upgrade to your dishes. From that base you can go further. Think, for example, of adding basil or oregano to tomato sauce. Or a spice mix for minced meat with pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace and cardamom. Making a sauce? Yvan’s tip is that you can thicken it with thickeners such as starch and the sauce binders from Natural Spices.”
Would you like to know more about the development process and/or work with us? Then contact us. We are of course also very curious about your creations! Share them with us on Instagram, Facebook and x.com.
