Is it any wonder then, that Eagle Beverage now was an App for the iPad? You can download the app at the App Store.  An App?  For Private Label?  But of course.  How else can our sales team remember each detail of a custom private label program?  The app is designed for food service professionals who are interested in selling a custom private label program for speciality beverages.  It’s nifty because you can see more detail of flavors and actually create your own program.  Do you want to match a brand?  Enter the info in the field.  Do you want choose your capsule color?  Click your color.  Need to print the sales sheets or email directly to the person across the table from you?  Select print, email or download to PDF reader.

I’m not recommending that everyone downloads the app.  It is a very specific app for a specific market segment.  In addition to helping our sales team promote private label programs, this app asks the question… how useful are apps for business to business generation?  Or is the market share for one billion plus apps predominantly B to C?  Or did I miss the platform of where B2B apps belong?

I should point out that the app is not free and Eagle Beverage does NOT offer refunds for those who download the app because they download everything there is out there whether they need it or not (yes, I know I have 650 apps of which I only actually use about 20).  But we will refund the price of the app if someone actually uses it to create and buy a private label program from us!

I am enjoying the process of learning how to integrate technology into the selling of custom foodservice items.  And I have enjoyed learning how Apple has developed a whole platform for the creation, maintenance and distribution of apps.  The reviews from the sales team who have seen the app working have been great.  I really hope I don’t have to buy them all iPads now…!

1. Analytical – what do you present to the taster in order to showcase your specialty or unique opportunity?
2. Organization – how do you present the items to the taster so all items have an equal opportunity to be tasted and evaluated?
3. Evaluation – how can the taster record and reflect on what they are tasting in order to articulate why they prefer one taste over another?
4. Presentation – How do you keep it engaging and interesting to the taster?

Now, to the characters

1. The Innovator – This person likes to “play it by ear” and prepare the tasting on the go.  They typically have a passion for creating something and showing everyone how good it can be.
2. The Measurer – This person will measure every ¼ ounce using some measuring tool.  They are precision oriented and need each quantity to come out the same.
3. The Planner – This person will plan the tasting down to last sip and may have a problem if the order needs to be adjusted or changed

Over the next few posts, we will evaluate these issues.  Conducting a taste test is fun and engaging, but it takes a lot of work.

During the process, however, two things became apparent quickly.  One, I need to slow down and accept help when offered and two, I must always be thankful.  Not knowing how I fell, the injury could have been more severe and everyday, I am thankful that I am being looked after.

Having been literally chaired (grounded, or otherwise told to stay put), I’ve had the opportunity to reconnect with many of our customers and really understand how our team does such an excellent job of getting their work done.  I’m sure that they would rather not have me scrutinizing everything, but there is always room for improvement and hopefully they recognize the value of having another perspective to solving problems and exceeding on customer care.  Being at the office for such an extended period of time, brings home to realization that a company that does not have direct oversight and management by owners runs the risk of having decisions made for the company instead of company management making decisions for the company.   The flipside is micromanagement tends to make the team nervous or suddenly unsure of themselves.  I have tried to find a balance, but I do believe everyone is ready for me to start visiting customers again!

Vodka was originally considered to be a medicinal drink, supposedly curing ailments and promoting longevity and youthfulness.  My take on that would be that if you drank enough you didn’t feel anything and therefore appeared to die healthy.  But back to vodka.  Polish vodka is typically distiller from rye, while Russia and Sweden distill from wheat and Finland from barley.  The East and Scandinavian countries tend to have more flavor in their vodkas than those distilled “neutral” or flavorless.  

Since we specialize in Flavors, I had the Wisniowka Cherry Cordial in an ice glass. One sip at a time was delicious.  Not fruity, not sweet and very balanced.  But I have to admit I prefer cocktails.  And vodka’s strength in the cocktail market is king.  It is a completely versatile drink, with enough price points to make it affordable to all and a luxury to some.  All of the mixers we manufacture and many of the syrups find themselves paired in alocholic drinks, typically made with vodka.  So drink up but drink responsibly and be safe.

I’ve been to Dubai about five times in as many years and this most recent trip in November was definitely different.  In years past, Dubai was a city under construction.  Building shells outlined the “new Downtown” looming like spectres over the city.  Construction workers were everywhere, prices were high and business were bursting with business.

This trip, however, was dfiffernt.  Glorious buildings are finished, yet empty.  The massive number of construction workers are fewer but I was happy to see, that people were still buying.

The specialty beverage market in Dubai, and in the Middle East, is growing rapidly, largely in part because of the heat and the limitation on alcoholic beverages.  But the drinks are expensive.  At Colors Café I ordered a Mocha Frappe, made with Stasero’s Mocha Frappe.  It cost 17 dirhams, or $5.50 for a 16 oz glass.  At Starbucks, a tall decaf latte and tall caramel latte cost 32 dirhams, just under $10.

Specialty coffee shops are abundant; unfortunately the customers were not and at these prices, not likely to be.   As I make the tour around the Middle East, I am keeping my eyes open for new trends, current flavors and sellings concepts that will benefit all our customers.

In a product driven company, there are three dimensions of competition – product leadership (otherwise known as innovation), customer knowledge and operational efficiency. If we just look at product innovation, the sad truth is that no-matter what innovative or ground breaking product you are able to bring to market, eventually, someone else will copy it, and most likely do it better. I mention this because recently Sony announced that after 30 years, it was stopping production of the Walkman as it is no longer relevant in the world in iPods and MP3 players. Truthfully, I was surprised it took them this long to make the announcement. In our industry, we watch our competitors and see what new and innovative products they believe will be the “next big flavor” and prepare ourselves for creating innovative and relevant flavors. And then we will watch someone else do it!

On my last visit, I did a lot of sensory tasting.  The south of France makes some of the best products in the world… Wine, olive oil and honey and I tried them all.  Here are a few of my most favorites tastes.

Wine…because I prefer white wine, I visited Cassis,, a small fishing village near Marseilles,  known for its exquisite whites I ordered a bottle of wine and paired it with battered sole.  The wine was crisp, with a golden hue and an aroma that brought to mind the fresh outdoors.  The taste was a delicate flowery, with hints of Cherry and cassis.  Domaine du Paternel is a very fine house and each sip was delicious.  

Olive oil…. Now here is where things get complicated.  There are many, many types of olive oil, but you don’t  fully appreciate how much effort goes into each bottle of olive oil until you have been to the vineyards and seen the olives on the trees.   They are treated almost as delicately as grapes and have a processing that was brought over by the romans centuries ago.  Typically we pour olive oil over dishes.   The new technique is to use a sprayer to spritz, instead of pouring.   It is less wasteful.  

Pastis…  Never having really tasted pastis, I decided to linger over one on a sunny afternoon in Marseilles.  Generaly, pastis is a licorice flavored drink.  It arrived to the table as a concentrate, to which I added water.  I decided for the slightly sweeter version, which had orgeat in it, giving it a very almondy flavor, similar to sambuco, or ouzo.  Paired with a tomato and mozzarella salad, the pastis went down very smoothly.

Lavendar grows in abundance in Provence, but I had not figured out how to use it in a culinary setting.  Well, I found two delicious examples of it.  The first was a goat cheese spring roll with lavender honey.  This was amazing – the sweet and sour taste, combined with the crunchiness of the spring roll set off the lavender honey.  It was not too sweet as the cheese mellowed it, but you clearly had the sweet and sour sensations.  The other yummy taste was a Lavender creme brûlée.  The first thing I noticed was the creme brûlée was 1) not as thick and firm as our Amercian version and 2) not as sweet.  The  brûlée had the pods of the vanilla bean and a carmalezed lavender layer.  The whole dish was devoured within minutes.  I have brought lavender home to use in cooking and we will see how that turns out.

I hope you have enjoyed the culinary tour of Provence.  I can’t wait to taste more.

But back to the Beer Tasting… I am not much of a beer drinker, but our tasting guides had an acromym to describe the evaluation of each beer and I found the simplicity of their sensory evaluation to be something that I could pass on: AATMF. These five letters stand for Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel and Finish.

Appearance – Appearance can reflect the color, the consistency, smoothness of texture and generally all the visual elements that are common in determining the appeal of the product.

Aroma – Over 70% of taste perception is attributed to aroma, or smell. If it smells good, chances are, it tastes good!
Taste – Taste and aroma account for most of the perception of a product. Our taste buds allow us to taste bitter, salty, sweet, and sour flavors. There is a huge body of research done on taste and smell and we will go into that later.

Mouthfeel – With beverages, some people can feel the product in their mouth and they can describe food and beverage a variety of ways: creamy, thick, thin, coating, and a number of other ways. This attribute is how you perceive the texture of the product in the mouth. One simple example is sugar and HFCS. While we don’t manufacture anything using High Fructose Corn Syrup anymore, we had a hard time getting out of it because it has a thicker viscosity than sugar, and therefore, our customers felt it was a creamier, richer taste. In order to achieve that same feeling with sugar, we had to add more sugar to increase the viscosity and create a similar mouthfeel.

Finsh – The finish is essential. Once the product has left your mouth, the sensation it evokes afterwards can either linger of end quickly. If it ends quickly, the perception tends to be that it is not very strong. If it lingers at the back of the mouth and in the air passages (due to the aroma), the sensation is one of satisfaction and fullness.

So, now you know the 5 different evaluative areas, try something. Enjoy a glass a wine, your favorite flavored cocktail or a cup of coffee and evaluate how the beverage looks, smells, tastes, feels, and lingers in your mouth. Feel free to share your results here!