Savoury foundations: understanding basic tastes to maximise savoury flavours

The secret to memorable savoury flavour lies in mastering the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. While each taste serves its own purpose, theirits true power emerges when combined strategically. This creates the flavour base that defines how consumers experience savoury foods.

Read on to discover how flavour solutions can help manufacturers to balance basic tastes to create savoury flavour combinations that satisfy and delight. 

Developing complex flavour and taste sensations with savoury foundations

Today’s consumers demand bold, layered savoury flavours in everything from soups to vegetarian savoury snacks. The challenge for manufacturers is in developing taste sensations that capture depth and nuance. Savoury foundations act as an essential umami base onto which you can layer flavours and then modulate taste to create balanced and authentic savoury food solutions.

Whether the goal is indulgence, clean-label appeal, or sodium reduction, food manufacturers must deliver that depth and complexity that consumers now expect. 

Building savoury flavour in vegetarian and vegan recipes

The rise of plant-based eating has created demand for vegetarian savoury snacks and savoury vegan products that match or surpass the taste of their meaty or cheesy counterparts.

Here’s where savoury foundations become indispensable. By adding umami notes into food, manufacturers can replicate the depth of flavour delivered by meat broths or stocks.

Yeast-based solutions offer particular promise. They allow manufacturers to deliver the complexity of slow-cooked savoury flavours and meaty notes with the silky, indulgent mouthfeel that makes meat-based stocks and sauces so appealing. 

How can savoury foundations balance flavour and function?

Flavour must be delicious, but it shouldn’t disrupt the consistency of a product’s formulation. Savoury foundations are designed to perform consistently during processing, while supporting clean-label requirements. These foundations contribute to multiple factors of flavour delivery and formulation stability:

• Taste improvement: Savoury foundations make it possible to deliver a rich, full-bodied flavour profile without relying on high salt levels. This allows developers to meet nutritional targets while still giving consumers the depth of taste consumers crave.
• Functional stability: Designed to withstand processing, cooking, storage, and reheating. The result? Consistent flavour performance from factory to fork, which supports both product quality and consumer satisfaction.
• Label-friendly appeal: Designed to deliver authentic flavour while keeping ingredient lists simple and transparent, savoury foundation solutions help brands meet clean-label expectations. Taste and functionality remain uncompromised.

Savoury foundation solutions from Ohly

Ohly’s savoury foundation solutions strengthen both flavour and function across diverse applications.  Take Ohly KAT/KAV for example.  A classic savoury flavour which provides umami taste thanks to the naturally high amounts of free amino acids, preferred in low-sodium products.

Ohly STT/STV brings out the savoury flavour attributes of many food applications. It will accentuate meat flavours and umami characteristics. 

Ohly FLAV-R-BASE 19 offers a robust foundation for building deep, authentic savoury notes and creating flavour balance. Its consistent performance during processing makes it particularly valuable for manufacturers.

Together, these solutions give formulators a versatile toolkit to bring out the flavour and taste in food and support changing market demands. 

How to use savoury foundations in your formulations

Developers can integrate Ohly’s savoury foundations at multiple points in product development to create unique savoury flavour formulations: 

• Snack bases: By integrating umami directly into extruded bases or baked inclusions, brands can create layered savoury flavours that go beyond surface-level seasoning and deliver a richer snacking experience.
• Soups, sauces and broths: Leveraging yeast-based ingredients allows manufacturers to build deep, satisfying flavours in soups, sauces, and broths. This is particularly helpful while reducing sodium content to meet health-conscious consumer demands.
• Plant-based innovations: Yeast-based solutions provide deep, umami flavours to help replicate the meaty, savoury flavour combinations consumers crave, enabling plant-based products to achieve the depth and richness of traditional meat dishes.

Why choose Ohly for your savoury foundations?

At Ohly, innovation meets decades of taste-building expertise. We combine deep understanding of basic tastes using our state-of-the-art fermentation with advanced PRECISION EXTRACTION^® expertise to deliver savoury foundations that balance both flavour and function. 

Our portfolio empowers food manufacturers to craft authentic savoury flavours across a wide variety of products, and elevate flavours while reducing sodium. By leveraging Ohly’s depth of knowledge and proven savoury experience, brands can stay ahead of evolving consumer demands and develop products that truly stand out on the shelf.