BURGERS

Burger & Meatball Seasonings

Food Safari

(aka how we hunt down the next big flavour—without getting lost)

Throughout the year, we pack up our forks and head off on a Food Safari. Destination? Depends on where the good food’s hiding. Mood? Hungry.

Armed with TimeOut guides, stretchy waistbands, and a suspicious number of napkins, our team of brave taste explorers sets off to uncover what’s hot on the plate right now.

One Dish. One Stop. All Flavour.

We book into a bunch of buzzy new restaurants—sometimes five, sometimes ten—and order a selection of dish at each. Could be a starter, could be a main. Could be whatever they tell us is weird and brilliant. No wine, no faff—just flavour. Each dish gets passed around like a hot potato (clockwise, of course) so everyone gets a bite. Then it’s straight on to the next spot. No time to snooze. It’s fast. It’s focused and it’s photographed. Street snacks, retail finds, and restaurant one-offs

• New flavour combos, clever ingredient twists and brilliant plating ideas
• Hidden ingredient heroes and claims your customers will care about
• Clues from across cuisines, categories and menus
• Basically: anything delicious that makes us say “ooh, that’s clever”

Why We Do It
Because:

• The best way to spot food trends is with your mouth
• We want to know what your customers will be craving next
• It’s way more fun than reading flavour forecasts

We bring it all back to the kitchen - where the real flavour work begins.

Fancy Tagging Along?

We can’t promise you a seat (they go fast), but we can promise your projects will benefit from everything we saw, tasted and scribbled in our sauce-splattered notebooks.

Safari

Cost Reduction

Cost Re-Spicing is the process of modifying a recipe or formulation by replacing higher-cost spices, herbs, or raw materials with more economical alternatives, while maintaining the intended flavour profile as closely as possible.

At its core, it’s a cost optimisation technique that allows manufacturers to navigate volatile ingredient markets, manage inflationary pressures, or meet tighter margin targets—without sacrificing product quality in a way that would be noticeable to the customer.

Examples of Re-Spicing in Action

• Replacing ground black pepper with black pepper oleoresin: same pungency and aroma at a fraction of the cost, and in more concentrated form.
• Swapping fresh garlic for dehydrated garlic powder or even garlic flavouring compound.
• Using dried herbs in place of fresh when the flavour impact is negligible in cooked applications.
• Switching from whole spices to extracts, essential oils, or compound blends that are standardised and lower in unit cost.

What It’s Not

Re-spicing is not about radically altering the recipe or cutting corners on quality. It’s about smart substitution—making precise, targeted changes that:
• Reduce ingredient spend
• Avoid triggering new labelling or allergen issues
• Stay true to the product’s original sensory character


Brief Us

Modern Diets

Vegan? Gluten-free? Free from everything but flavour?
You name it, we’ll sort it. And yes — it’ll still taste like the real deal.

We specialise in re-spicing and reformulating to meet today’s diverse dietary demands, without compromising on depth, authenticity, or enjoyment. Whether it’s:

• Taking out dairy but keeping the creaminess
• Swapping animal-derived ingredients for plant-based alternatives
• Ditching gluten without losing texture or flavour delivery
• Cleaning up the label while keeping it craveable

—we make it work. Seamlessly. Deliciously. Quietly clever.

Modern eating shouldn’t mean missing out — and with us, it doesn’t.

Brief Us

Low Fat & Fat Replacer

When you want to make ultra lean burgers with less than 5% fat, the mouth feel can be affected.

Our Seasonings with Fat Replacer combats that and added back a succulent warm mouth feel.

Foodmaker have explored different techniques to reduce the fat content in products, such as sausage, by using different ingredients in the seasoning.

Brief Us

Low Salt

Around 10% of salt in or diet occurs naturally in food, with up to 75% of salt in western diets coming from food processing. The national average salt intake is around 9.5g/day compared to the recommended amount of 3.5g/day!

Though Sodium is vital to our health, too much can be heavily detrimental. Dry seasonings are inherently salty, our team of Development Specialists have perfected ways to reduce this salt level giving you the green light on food packaging traffic light system.

Brief Us

No gaps. Just winners

Why not strengthen your lineup by recreating the success of proven market winners?

With our in-depth market insight and flavour benchmarking, we’ll assess your current offering, identify gaps in your range, and help you fill them—quickly, strategically, and cost-effectively.

Don’t let your competitors own the shelf. Let’s make your range complete.

Why COPY With Foodmaker? We’re not just blend geeks. We’re partner material. Here’s what you can expect:

• One friendly expert to guide the journey
• Proper collaboration (we listen, ask questions, and bring biscuits)
• Clear, simple updates — no nonsense, no surprises
• Testing that matters — if it doesn’t taste great and perform well, we’re not done yet

Brief Us

Flavour Migration

Spotted a standout flavour in snacks, sauces, or ready meals? Why not bring it into your sausage or burger range?

At Foodmaker, we specialise in translating popular flavours from one food category to another—capturing the essence while adapting it for new formats, cooking methods, and regulations.

Let’s take that trending taste and make it work where your customers least expect it… and love it most.

Brief Us

Commercial Benchmark

Ever wondered what your seasoning is really worth?

Our Commercial Benchmarking service analyses your current blend’s cost profile and provides a clear, reliable price-per-kilo estimate.

Use this insight however you like — negotiate smarter, plan better, or even spot savings. And who knows — you might just find Foodmaker is the right partner to supply it too. The Clever Stuff Behind the Curtain

We won’t spill all our secrets, but here’s a peek behind the blend. We use smart software that reads flavour declarations and helps us build a working profile from the label up. That means we can spot:

• Key ingredients
• Rough amounts
• The secret to what makes it tick

Then we get hands-on with proper lab work:

• Sieving (to see what’s what)
• Titration testing (to balance the brains)
• Specific gravity (because weighty things matter)

Altogether, it gives us a pretty sharp picture of your blend’s inner workings.
Where Science Meets Gut Feeling (and Taste Buds)
We’ve got tech. But it’s the humans who make it magic.
Our development team brings 60+ years of seasoning experience to the table. They know when a flavour needs a tweak, when it needs a twist, and when it just needs leaving alone. They:

• Analyse the data
• Spot what’s missing
• Make clever suggestions
• Deliver a COPY that tastes spot-on — or even better

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Backup Supplier

In food production, continuity is everything. That’s why securing a reliable second source for your seasonings and spices is not just smart — it’s essential.

At Foodmaker, we help you put contingency plans in place with fully qualified backup supply options. Whether it’s a sudden shortage, supply chain delay, or increased demand, you’ll be ready to act without missing a beat.

We are BRC AA accredited.

Stay prepared. Stay productive. Peace of mind — backed up.

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