Salt of the Earth has announced new distribution agreements for its clean-label Mediterranean Umami savory flavor enhancement and sodium reduction ingredient in Australia, Poland, South Africa, and Thailand. The company is seeking to expand its offering of the plant-based ingredient by partnering with leading food ingredient distributors across the globe.
Mediterranean Umami is a distinctive blend of simple, consumer-friendly ingredients based on natural plant extracts combined with sea salt. It was granted an IFT17 Innovation Award and provides multiple functions as a savory flavor enhancer, a salt-reduction agent and a sugar reduction ingredient, reports Salt of the Earth.
The growing acceptance of Mediterranean Umami in the market is supported by the increased consumer demand for healthy and clean label foods, according to the Israeli company. These global deals have served the functionality of this ingredient and have elicited the company to identify several key factors for marketing Mediterranean Umami in four new countries:
• In Thailand, Wang Chemicals Co. Ltd. will market Mediterranean Umami as a natural alternative to MSG as well as for salt-reduction. Natural products and clean-label ingredients are on-trend in Thailand.
• Ingredientbox Pty., Australia, is focusing on the savory flavor enhancement properties of Mediterranean Umami for a number of food products.
• Bajar, Poland, cites a growing demand for premium products using only natural ingredients. In addition, many Polish food manufacturers specialize in private label manufacturing for export to Western Europe and are therefore required to adhere to WHO and EFSA sodium recommendations.
• WCA Life Science (Pty) Ltd. will provide the natural salt-reduction solution to manufacturers meeting compliance with South Africa’s mandatory salt reduction policy.
“We are pleased to announce these new commercial partnerships around the world, expanding the reach of Mediterranean Umami,” says David Hart, Business Unit Director for Salt of the Earth. “Each of these companies is a leader in its respective market, with extensive experience bringing value-added ingredients to the food industry. We look forward to working closely with them and their customers to help create tastier and healthier foods using Mediterranean Umami.”
Hart says: “We are working hard to expand into other markets. At the moment, we are looking at additional Eastern and Western European countries; additional, large Asian countries like China and Japan; and South American countries.”
“Whenever we do a tasting session with our customers, they are usually blown-away by Mediterranean Umami,” comments. “Both regarding flavor enhancement for making tastier, more craveable products, and in terms of the significant sodium reductions that can be achieved. The simplicity of Mediterranean Umami – powered by plant-extracts and sea-salt – is something that captures the interest of our customers.”
“Sodium reduction, on one level or another, is definitely a global trend, and almost every food company is conscious of the nutrition content of their foods. With that said, we see that each market has its own dynamic, and other trends like clean-label and craveability may be more of a focus for a particular market. We have enough capacity and the ability to expand as needed easily,” Hart notes.
In addition to existing agreements for the four new countries as well as North America, the UK and Benelux, Salt of the Earth continues to seek additional distribution partners that would like to introduce Mediterranean Umami to the local markets, says the company.
