3: SPRING / SUMMER 2025
THE PULL OF THE 400˚ CLUB
FOOD ADVENTURES - REINVENTING U.S. BARBECUE BORN IN THE USA - MORE FLAVOUR ADVENTURES
AMERICAN OPENFIRE COOKING
PILGRIMS PROGRESS AT THE SMOKEADEMY
SALTEX® & THE SEARCH FOR AN OPTIMAL REPLACEMENT
HUW’S NEWS, EVENTS & UPDATES
A warm welcome to Light Nights 2025, the third in our series of bi-annual smoke reports highlighting what’s fresh in the worlds of smoke and grill flavour.
This is a truly exciting time for flavour leadership around the globe with so much happening on both the scientific and business development fronts.
We’re thrilled to bring you up to date with breaking news on product innovations, industry partnerships and a busy season of events and engagements ahead.
Close to home, we held a team celebration to launch our new on-site smoke academy and flame-to-fork innovation centre.
It was an ideal way to bring everyone together for a delicious feast, give out some internal awards, wish me a happy 50th birthday and partake of a refreshment or two at our wonderful in-house bar, The Smoking Monkey.
The academy will become a dedicated centre of excellence where our flavour experts can work with distributors and key customers to explore and test ideas for the market. People are already showing interest and we’re confident it will be a great facility for the food industry. We welcomed our first visitors, from meat producer Pilgrim’s Europe, for two days of cooking sessions and laboratory work, at the end of February. We expect many other key customers to come down to Sussex and work with us as awareness grows.
The big industry gamechanger for us, and why the smoke academy launch is so timely, is the EU’s recent decision to begin a phased ban of smoke ‘flavourings’ from its list of authorised smoke products.
It’s a massive boost for us because of how we work and our commitment to natural smoke ingredients rather than flavourings.
Our long-standing patented filtration process, which removes the harmful toxins otherwise created by smoke, puts us squarely outside the scope of the ban. More and more producers now see us as the safe alternative to the soon-to-be-banned flavourings they’ve used for
years. It’s finally our time to shine as the go-to choice for healthy, nuanced and authentic smoke and grill flavour ingredients. Just as nature intended, we combine low temperatures, natural airflow, sustainably sourced smouldering woodchips, time and craftsmanship.
This is the essence of our campaign to revive and reclaim the true flavour of smoke. As you can see on the front cover, I unashamedly performed the ‘official launch’ of the campaign in spring 2025 after climbing to the top of Jebel Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and proclaiming the message with a ‘Reclaim the flavour of smoke’ banner. It was entirely fitting to do this amid the natural splendour of a mountain top in the birthplace of fire cooking more than 780,000 years ago.
In previous editions, we have focused on Asia’s diverse grilling traditions and the Nordic influence on smoke flavour. This time round we head west to consider the many joys of American barbecuing and why the art and science of what we do is ideal for reclaiming regional variations in mesquite and hickory woodsmoke flavour across the USA.
With public health agencies around the world focused on salt reduction, we see further ground-breaking potential in the imminent launch of our Saltex product so we share the latest on that too.
To find out more about Besmoke and perhaps arrange a flavour demonstration, give us a shout. Likewise, if you have any feedback on Light Nights or our smoke reports in general, we’d love to hear from you. You can still read and download previous editions by scanning the QR code below.
Flavour obsessive and Besmoke Founder and CEO
“I unashamedly performed the ‘official launch’ of the campaign in spring 2025 after climbing to the top of Jebel Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and proclaiming the message with a ‘Reclaim the flavour of smoke’ banner.”
Behind the EU’s landmark decision in 2024 to introduce a phased ban on smoke flavourings is a focus on keeping our food safe.
The higher the temperatures involved in smoke flavouring production, the greater the risk of carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are compounds associated with toxicity and a range of health effects.
In contrast, Besmoke’s USP, and indeed our DNA, is the creation of smoke and grill ingredients through a natural process that avoids harmful PAHs and guarantees clean, fresh and authentic flavour profiles.
Professor Dave Baines, our Director of Innovation and a world-renowned food chemist and flavour scientist, points to EU guidance on temperature that ultimately resulted in the smoke flavourings ban.
“The guidance states that temperatures for grilling and thermal decomposition should not exceed 400°C.”
“The guidance states that temperatures for grilling and thermal decomposition should not exceed 400°C. This is because the higher you go, the more likely you are to generate PAHs and toxicology. Smoke flavourings commonly made at, say, 600°C or 650°C therefore came within the ban. What Besmoke does, as proved by laser thermometer measurement, falls below the upper guidance limit of 400°C. Our PureTech™ technology reduces the preponderance of toxic materials that would be produced at high temperatures. PureTech™ is designed so that the smoke is the safest you can find.”
Dave emphasises that the EFFA guidance is for the production of ‘flavourings’ while Besmoke products are ‘food ingredients’. “The guidance doesn’t apply to what Besmoke is producing,” he says. “Below 400ºC, we produce a more flavourful, less acrid and less harsh smoke that is much lower in thermally produced toxins. Coupled to this, our PureSmoke™ filtration technology is then used to produce the safest smoke available.”
Dave’s comments are echoed by colleagues Elena Cristea, Science & Innovation Manager, Petra Tsitlakidou, Technical & Regulatory Director, and Becky Shaw, New Product Development Controller.
“Traditional smoke is different from smoke flavouring,” Elena explains. ”Molecular changes in different compounds at temperatures of 400° C or above create a more tarry, ashier character. Below
400°C, the wood specificity is noticeable in the flavour, the complexity will reveal itself and you achieve lingering deliciousness depending on the specific temperature, oxygen availability, wood species, and process involved.”
Petra says: “There is a huge difference between very high-temperature wood pyrolysis, in vacuum conditions of up to 1,000°C, and the approach we take involving indirect smoking or smouldering. What we achieve is incomplete combustion in the presence of oxygen where the whole process is different. At sub-400°C, we do not condense the smoke. It’s able to be absorbed on the food surface, whether that is salt, sugar, paprika, black pepper, water, sunflower oil or something else. For years we’ve been competing with smoke flavourings. Now all food manufacturers are having to respond to the ban and are in search of an alternative. Besmoke provides ingredients with the flavour of smoke. There are different smoke profiles and sub-notes – this is the magic of what Besmoke does. We employ no harsh methods to produce strong flavours.”
Petra adds that while there is still a ‘wide window for smoke research’, she feels Besmoke’s moment has come. “The circumstances right now are ideal for Besmoke. It’s time to educate manufacturers about naturally smoked food ingredients as opposed to blends sprayed with smoke flavourings.”
Becky says: “We’re doing lots of presentations for distributors faced with changing tastes in the market and retailers squeezing prices. Because of the EU ban, people are looking to remove smoke flavourings and that plays into Besmoke’s range of smoked ingredients such as SMOAX® and FUMODO® Besmoke’s umami taste enhancement range, PureMami®. We’ve done a great deal of work over the years on classic woodsmoke flavours in sauces and seasonings as alternatives to smoke flavourings using naturally smoked food ingredients from Besmoke’s “toolbox”. Flavours include hickory, mesquite, beech and cherry. We have moved technologies on. Now that the ban of smoke flavourings in categories such as sauces and seasonings will be starting from 1st of July of 2026, people are saying to us ‘thank goodness you stuck to your guns’. Thanks to our long-standing development work, we’re already ideally positioned to help manufacturers and processors respond to the flavourings ban and move away from ultra high temperature flavourings. We make sure our ingredients are fully labelled to be in line with what the industry needs.”
EFFA, the European Flavour Association, issued guidance in 2017 on the production of natural flavourings. It states:
‘EFFA considers the use of elevated time, temperature and pressure as unacceptable if applied to initiate a process which cannot be demonstrated to occur under the commonly accepted conditions of traditional food preparation processes.’
Fun cookouts deep in the forest have been a Besmoke pastime for many years. Amid the mouthwatering aromas of open fire and grill, we enjoy chatting the hours away with friends, colleagues and industry partners, sharing thoughts on ingredients, cooking techniques and recipes. One campfire companion since the founding of our get-togethers is John Feeney, a well-respected professional chef, food adventurer and culinary ambassador. We asked John to tell us more about his love of flavour and smoke technology and in particular how this translates to American barbecue.
As Culinary & Innovation Director for Europe at Chicago-headquartered Griffith Foods, John has spent two decades shaping the future of flavour, working with protein manufacturers, snack brands, retailers, food service operators and QSRs. His passion is unlocking authentic, craveable smoke flavours in a way that’s wwboth safe and scalable.
“I love working with people who are obsessed with flavour, authenticity and innovation. What’s great about Besmoke is that it amplifies natural smoke and fire flavours to a level that’s pure, clean and Michelin star-worthy.”
“I’m a huge fan of Besmoke,” says John. “I love working with people who are obsessed with flavour, authenticity and innovation. What’s great about Besmoke is that it amplifies natural smoke and fire flavours to a level that’s pure, clean and Michelin star-worthy.
“You get all the depth and umami of real wood smoke, without the nasty acrid, tar-like notes. Whether it’s caramelised umami, Romesco sauce, Scotch Bonnet heat or wood-fired margherita pizza reinvented as a crisp, Besmoke improves flavour without compromising on quality or safety.”
John believes there is a global conversation to be had around how technology can bring authentically cooked low-and-slow barbecue into the market for easy cook, mass consumption.
A self-proclaimed food safari explorer, he has travelled far and wide to experience low-and-slow traditions first-hand. And when it comes to barbecue culture, he believes the USA is an ideal territory for Besmoke given the popularity of smoke and grill, the scope for regional variations in flavour and the increasing focus on balanced, authentic ingredients.
“Fire is universal,” he says. “Whether it’s a live-fire pit in Argentina, a yakitori grill in Japan or a smoker in Texas, it’s about bringing people together over incredible food. What I love about the US barbecue scene is its constant evolution. It’s a mix of old-school pitmaster techniques and bold, innovative chef-inspired flavours.
“With Besmoke’s technology, you can deliver that depth of smoky flavour without hours of wood smoking. Imagine sous-vide barbecue products that taste like they’ve been pulled straight from an authentic backyard smoker but are actually easy, accessible and scalable. It’s a case of traditional barbecue meets nextgeneration culinary innovation.”
American barbecue is no longer ‘just about brisket and ribs’, John says. “It’s bigger, bolder and more diverse than ever. On carcass balance and sustainability, the focus is shifting to do more with underutilised cuts. At the same time, we see the rise of fire-kissed vegetables sides, smoky grains couscous, and creative barbecue miso carrots and yams.”
John points to the huge regional and cultural variations in barbecue across the USA as prime examples of global mash-ups.
“Barbecue is borrowing from everywhere,” he says. “Miso-smoked brisket finished with furikake, picanha with smoked chimichurri hollandaise and fireroasted baba ghanoush salsa alongside your Sunday roast. The rise of Indian-Mexican, Brazilian-Japanese and Egyptian-Southern mashups are all redefining American barbecue.
“I love how the American barbecue scene is evolving—it’s no longer just a ‘piece of meat on the
grill.’ It’s about storytelling, culture, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with fire.
“One of the biggest challenges in barbecue at scale has always been recreating that authentic ‘kiss of smoke’ without compromise. That’s where Besmoke changes the game.
“Besmoke’s smoke technology delivers clean, authentic, scalable flavour that manufacturers, processors and chefs can trust. Whether it’s a firepit gathering or a mise en place retail product, you get the same signature smoke profile every time.
“Americans love big, bold flavours and they embrace innovation faster than most markets. Barbecue is a global language spoken through smoke, fire and incredible flavour. With Besmoke leading the charge in clean, safe and high-impact smoke technology, the future of grilling, barbecue and open-fire cooking is brighter and tastier than ever.
“I wish Huw and Besmoke well in taking what they do best and promoting it in America. From a chef perspective, it’s all about making the food business better and Besmoke is doing exactly that.”
“One of the biggest challenges in barbecue at scale has always been recreating that authentic ‘kiss of smoke’ without compromise. That’s where Besmoke changes the game.”
Smoke innovation: Imagine sous-vide barbecue products that taste like they’ve been pulled straight from an authentic backyard smoker but are actually easy, accessible and scalable.
Smoke evolution: The American barbecue scene is evolving—it’s no longer just a ‘piece of meat on the grill.’ It’s about storytelling, culture, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with fire.
Smoke experimentation: We're seeing the rise of firekissed vegetables sides, smoky grains couscous, and creative barbecue miso carrots and yams.
“Our
technology offers a great way to authentically replicate American flavours on a large scale.”
Peter Dingelhoff: Global Technical Sales Director, Besmoke’s European smoke and grill expert
There are huge regional variations in cooking and eating right across the United States.
From gumbo soup in Mississippi to salsa in Tex Mex and clam chowder in Boston, each area has its own speciality dishes and distinct culinary styles.
Flavour profiles therefore vary a great deal too, with food sources, climate and terrain all playing their part whether you are in Florida, Alaska or points in between. When it comes to the art of the barbecue, there is plenty of variety in accompanying sauces.
Between them, for example, North and South Carolina can claim at least three. Carolina Gold is a mustard-based sauce hailing from South Carolina with vinegar and brown sugar. Eastern North Carolina specialises in a thin, hot, vinegar-based sauce with red pepper flakes while the western side of the state boasts Lexington, a sauce similar to the east but with added ketchup and brown sugar.
Peter Dingelhoff, Global Technical Sales Director, describes the USA’s many regions as a ‘continuously changing kitchen’ from which Besmoke is attracting growing interest because of our skills and reputation in flavour profiles and leadership.
“The most predominant barbecue wood types in the USA tend to be hickory or mesquite,” says Peter. “Hickory woodchips are very well known, even in Europe, as being typical of the USA. Beech is the European equivalent. Hickory grows more in the Midwest and central states. It’s a nice hardwood that is used to make, for example, baseball bats or tool handles. From that you have woodchips as a by-product used for smoking food, The flavour is strong, typically smoky, like beechwood. Mesquite is completely different, more like a bush and from the southern USA and Mexico. It contains a high amount of lignin, is very slow growing and used in very well-known Tex Mex and Mexican dishes along with, say, dried and smoked jalapeno peppers or chipotle peppers. Aside from hickory or mesquite and depending on your area, barbecue sauces can reflect other wood types. In areas with lots of fruit trees you can have cherry or apple wood. In northern states, maple may be prominent.
Both hickory and mesquite are especially widely used in Besmoke flavour profiles and are very important for us. People want us to offer them, especially since the EU ban will affect many of the smoke flavourings from the US that are included in barbecue sauces and seasonings for crisps and snacks.”
Reflecting our focus on the US smoke and grill market, we are actively discussing and agreeing deals with distributors in particular regions.
Huw Griffiths, our CEO, describes the USA as his ‘second home’ due to the number of business trips he has made there in the past year or so. “Our technology offers a great way to authentically replicate American flavours on a large scale,” Huw explains. “It’s all about recognising those regional variations that retailers are able to identify too, combining smokiness and deep flavour into protein. I love going to the USA and enthusing about our passion for open-fire smoke and grill, especially this spring with outdoor summer eating on the way. We can help America’s meat and poultry manufacturers and processors create growth in ‘low and slow’ barbecue recipes and our technology is ideal for sous vide and pitmaster cooking. We’ve got ideal profiles for pulled pork, brisket, sausage, ribs, wings and so on, and can meet each region’s take on their most desirable sauce and wood flavour. I am confident about helping customers reintroduce authentic flavour, the kind of cooking Americans did in previous generations, by virtue of our sub-400°C natural smoke flavour approach.”
Sharing Peter and Huw’s enthusiasm for doing more business in the USA is Colin Hitch, Chief Commercial Officer. “We are rapidly growing as a UK and European business with sights on the whole world. For those customers outside Europe who are selling into the EU and worried about the flavourings ban, we offer exempt products that are naturally smoked. Half of our volumes are already outside the UK. When it comes to the United States and the vast range of regional variations for smoke and grill barbecue flavours, we have the answer. We have more than 250 different, naturally smoked ingredients that have been developed to create signature flavours of depth and complexity. You can mix and match different combinations reflecting any US region’s flavour reputation whether that is smoked jalapeno, smoky cola, peach, mustard, honey, bourbon or something else entirely. North America is a key area of focus for us. We want to take our patented Besmoke technology across all its wonderful regions. In support of this, we hope to announce new partners and distributors for the USA in the coming months.”
Barbecue is more than just a culinary experience in seasonings and rubs that complement local barbecue traditions in the USA include:
TEXAS: Salt and black pepper rub blend; dry, with onion, garlic, chilli powders, paprika and cumin
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA: Spice blends that enhance vinegar’s bite with heat
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, LEXINGTON: Compliments tomato-based sauces
SOUTH CAROLINA: Spice blends balancing mustard sauce with sweeter, aromatic spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon
MEMPHIS: Complex, dry rub, up to 40 different spices; includes paprika and garlic
KANSAS CITY: Sweet and tangy rub blend with brown sugar or molasses, often includes paprika, garlic and various spices
ALABAMA: Seasoning blends to complement signature white sauce, often includes salt, pepper, and spices that pair well with mayonnaise.
KENTUCKY: Rub designed to complement mutton, often includes black pepper and spices that pair well with vinegar-based sauces.
CALIFORNIA, SANTA MARIA: Rub blend typically featuring salt, black pepper and garlic powder
FLORIDA: Seasoning blends incorporating Caribbean spices and tropical elements
NASHVILLE: Hot, spicy blend often including cayenne pepper
SMOKY BBQ: Soaked paprika, orange peel, coriander, cumin and other herbs and spices
CARIBBEAN: Blends with turmeric, mango, coriander seeds and curry leaves
BBQ SAUCE VARIETY LIST
Regional American barbecue sauce varieties include:
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA: Thin, hot, vinegar-based, with red pepper flakes
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, LEXINGTON: Similar to Eastern style above but with added ketchup and brown sugar
CAROLINA GOLD: South Carolina mustard-based, with vinegar and brown sugar
ALABAMA WHITE: Mayonnaise-based, with vinegar, lemon juice and black pepper
MEMPHIS: Thinner, less sweet compared to Kansas City. Tomato-based, tangy, with vinegar and mustard
TEXAS: Generally thinner and less sweet than other styles, beef focus, often includes chilli powder, cumin and Worcestershire sauce
ST. LOUIS: Similar to Kansas City but thinner and tangier, with less sweetness
FLORIDA: combines Carolina’s vinegar base with Cuban citrus and Caribbean spices
BALTIMORE: Creamy, horseradish, often served with pit beef sandwiches
While barbecue has huge significance in American culture and history, its origins are credited to the Taino people of the Caribbean. In the 16th century, explorers from Spain observed the islanders smoking meat on wooden sticks over open pits and adopted the method themselves.
The word ‘barbecue’ originates from the Spanish ‘barbacoa’, meaning a ‘raised frame of sticks’. This refers to the wooden structure used to dry, smoke and roast meat or fish. When European settlers landed on American shores they quickly adapted the Caribbean barbecue techniques. They also brought their own traditions of pit cooking, which involved digging bigger and deeper pits in the ground to cook more slowly over a low fire, ideal for transforming tough cuts of meat into tender, flavourful dishes.
The word ‘barbecue’ originates from the Spanish ‘barbacoa’, meaning a ‘raised frame of sticks’.
Enslaved Africans added their culinary knowledge, including expertise in slow cooking and seasoning meats. They introduced new cuts such as pork shoulder and ribs, which were inexpensive and readily available, as well as creating distinctive marinades, sauces and spice rubs, especially the hotter and spicier varieties, infusing the meat with layers of flavour.
Over time, these techniques mixed and merged with European methods of smoking and marinating. It is this blend of indigenous, European and African culinary traditions that has given rise to the rich and varied styles of barbecue we see across the USA today.
Regional variations are influenced by the choice of wood to burn, local ingredients, cultural traditions, and different cooking and seasoning methods. Traditionally the southern states are well known for their barbecue, priding themselves on having the best signature dishes.
Beef and sausage are popular meats in the Lone Star State which has four distinct barbecue variations. In Central Texas, it’s all about the dry rub with pitmasters creating their recipes and cooking over hickory, mesquite, oak or pecan.
The region was influenced by Czech and German immigrants who smoked leftover meat from markets and butcher shops They informed the state’s sausage-making tradition known as Texas Hot Links. South Texas blends Mexican influences and often uses a molasses-based sweet sauce with cumin, chilli and jalapeno.
In East Texas, the focus is low and slow cooking over hickory. Meat tends to be marinated in a thick tomato-based sauce. Cowboy-style barbecuing is the heritage of West Texas with mesquite the wood fuel of choice. West Texas is home to the spicy, tangy ‘mop style’ sauce that features meat dripping, tomato, and chilli and is used to baste or marinate.
The Yellowhammer state has three main regional barbecue variations.
The central area favours pork cooked in a red ketchup sauce and served with sides such as coleslaw and baked beans.
The south also majors on pork but with a thinner sauce and longer cooking time.
The north opts for chicken more than pork with wings and other cuts marinated in a mayonnaise, vinegar and spice sauce.
Popular woods are hickory, pecan and oak.
Alabama is seen as a ‘rising star’ in the world of open fire cooking. At one time it had the most barbecue restaurants per capital of anywhere in the US.
"It is this blend of indigenous, European and African culinary traditions that has given rise to the rich and varied styles of barbecue we see across the USA today."
Whole hog roasting became popular in the Carolinas in the 1700s with pigs thriving in the regional landscape, especially in South Carolina.
A mustard-based signature sauce, Carolina Gold, is prominent in the south while the north favours the tomato-based Lexington or Piedmont sauce.
Hickory is the most common wood for open fire cooking but some pitmasters in the north also use oak.
The world-famous home of rock and roll has a heavy focus on pork, specifically pork ribs and shoulder.
Both can be prepared dry or wet.
The dry rub features garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper and other savoury spices.
For wet ribs or shoulder, the meat is brushed with a tangy vinegar-based mop sauce.
While hickory is the traditional Memphis barbecue wood, some pitmasters opt for fruitwoods such as peach, apple or pecan which they combine with a little hickory for enhanced smoky flavour.
Generally cooked over hickory or oak, the signature dish or hallmark of Kansas City barbecue is ‘burnt ends’, from beef brisket.
Kansas pitmasters favour a dry spice rub with paprika that is coated onto the meat before cooking.
It tends to be complemented by a rich, sweet tomato sauce containing brown sugar and molasses that is brushed on as the meat cooks.
Petra Tsitlakidou:
Besmoke's Technical & Regulatory Director
Salt intake above safe levels is a huge problem for human health. It can lead to strokes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and many other medical conditions.
While it is an important barrier to microbial contamination in food, hence its use as a secure preservative, it is the volume of salt we consume that concerns public health agencies.
In line with guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), countries and regions around the world are taking concerted action around salt reduction.
In their strategies to encourage safe salt intake among their populations, the US and UK governments have both done research showing levels of consumption. Americans consume an average of 7.75g per day. The national salt reduction initiative, in line with FDA (Food & Drink Administration) recommendations, is for 5.75g per day.
While people in the US are consuming around 35% more salt than is recommended, in the UK it’s even worse. According to Public Health England, we consume a daily average of 8.2g to 8.4g of salt.
Public health experts and nutritionists advise that the best way to reduce salt intake at the population level is through a gradual approach.
Despite its above-average consumption, the UK has achieved a 20% to 40% salt reduction in the past ten years in different food types. Since 2021, the recommendation here has been for a 5% to 20% reduction target depending on the food category or subcategory. A key focus is on products such as bacon, pizza dough, crisps, bread and seasonings.
In line with the worldwide move to cut salt intake, several members of the Besmoke team are working on product development with an emphasis on salt reduction. Becky Shaw, New Product Development Controller, says
that demand for a salt alternative has ramped up in the UK. She points to government policy and guidelines restricting the promotion of products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
“Generally, people are more aware of what excessive salt intake does to you,” Becky says. “And the food industry is the first port of call for blame. Even if a customer is ‘green’ or ‘amber’ on this, they want to be seen to reduce salt.
"If you have three cottage pies on the supermarket shelf all priced the same and one has reduced salt, the consumer will go for that one."
Salt, sodium chloride, works on the palate, has good mineral ions but has health connotations. In terms of alternatives, potassium chloride doesn’t deliver on taste and has a negative profile. You have to find the right balance and source the optimal replacement to produce the taste. It’s a gap we can fill. We are doing a lot of NPD with an emphasis on salt reduction.”
Likewise, Professor Dave Baines, Director of Innovation, says: “There is huge potential for food companies to reduce salt and therefore aim to tackle the extent of medical conditions that can lead to strokes, high blood pressure and so on. In our research and product development, we are using materials that ‘lift’ or enhance the salt effect. They act on the salt taste receptor in the mouth, an ion channel. Sweet, sour and umami can be used in tandem with the salt receptor to enhance the taste of salt. In other words you can appeal to other receptors to create the impression of salt.”
Besmoke’s flagship alternative to salt is Saltex®. This is a flexible formulation that can be used to produce a salt reduction of up to 50%, or the specific extent that the customer wants, while achieving parity of taste and vision.
Used in small concentrations, Saltex® is set to play a highly cost-effective role in different food environments such as bakery, snacks, seasonings, ready meals and brine for meat.
Besmoke is readying it for launch following extensive testing and trials of variants, the clearance of regulatory hurdles and active development alongside major customers.
“We have a really amazing innovation team,” says Becky Shaw, New Product Development Controller and an experienced flavourist. “They have formulated a blend of natural flavouring substances that creates the perception of salt. It’s not an overnight process. It has involved years of tasting and development. With interested customers in the UK, we tend to test at an average 25% salt reduction. That brings them within the HFSS guidelines. It’s a beautiful moment, a great feeling, when you achieve salt reduction. We’ve had many high fives! You are problem solving and innovating for people who need our help with their application. It’s heartfelt customer support. We’re now
confident we have an elegant, straightforward proposition that has a lot of potential. All sorts of retailers are driving salt reduction and suppliers therefore need a solution. We are putting together a training demonstration for distributors. Customers in different categories have different usage levels and we have proved the value of Saltex® each time. We start by looking at the salt level and what they want to achieve. For every recipe the formulation is different. We want our product to work in your product. We babysit your product to help you. It can be a delicate balance. If you have the wrong dose or level, it doesn’t work.”
University of Reading researchers have shown that the use of smoke further enhances the taste of salt, so Besmoke has ensured there is a smoked variety of Saltex® available. “It’s another effective, natural offering that ‘bridges the gap’ between the science of Besmoke and the market,” says Professor Dave Baines, Director of Innovation.
Petra Tsitlakidou, Technical & Regulatory Director, puts Saltex® way ahead of potassium chloride as an effective salt substitute. “It avoids the bitterness and off-flavour side effects of
potassium chloride. Saltex® is a blend of compounds or ingredients that enhance existing salty flavour components. It’s a salt flavour booster.”
Saltex® is also what Petra describes as a ‘universal solution’ because it can be applied to any kind of food and you can safely use as much of it as you like. “Customers will have different requirements as to the percentages of salt they want to replace with Saltex® Basically, it can help take out the high or excessive levels of salt while keeping the food tasty. It won’t make salt ‘vanish’ completely, but it can be kept down to very low levels. We’re very optimistic about the potential for Saltex®.”
Huw Griffiths, CEO, adds: “Saltex® represents one of the biggest opportunities for Besmoke over the next few years. We are ready to help every territory that is keen to deliver salt reductions. That includes China, the United States, the UK and the EU.”
A place where team members, customers, distributors and industry partners can gather to learn from each other has long been a dream of Besmoke founder and CEO Huw Griffiths.
The fact he managed to launch the firm’s smoke academy and innovation centre, to achieve exactly that aim, was made extra special as it coincided with his 50th birthday.
The ground floor of the academy, part of Besmoke’s Arundel production centre, features a full working kitchen space, a walk-in pantry and rooms for customer and team presentations together with an in-house bar called The Smoking Monkey. On the first floor are stateof-the-art labs for innovation and application work.
Activities at the academy are all about ‘bringing flavour to life’, explains Huw. “The aim is to bring outdoor cooking indoors, have chef-led visits, welcome people with culinary skills, tailor agendas to participants’ needs, and discuss all aspects of how to enhance flavour in products. Learning will be nuanced to different customers, suiting the audience. We want it to become a true centre of excellence.”
After a staff party to celebrate the completion of the academy, and of course Huw’s birthday, it was soon time to host our first customer visit. Representatives of Pilgrim’s Europe, the UK’s biggest producer of valueadded pork, pulled pork, crackling and pork shoulder, spent two days with us at the end of February. Team members from Pilgrim’s travelled to West Sussex from Ireland and the South West and North West of England, keen to talk about providing the most authentic barbecue flavours to major supermarkets. The first day included an open fire cooking session using smoke and grill ingredients with participants discussing barbecue techniques, temperatures, durations and equipment. The second day looked at how barbecue ideas can be developed and actively translated into flavour profiles.
The visitors were given a technical overview of how different ingredients can enhance flavour by Becky Shaw, New Product Development Controller. “We looked at a lot of technical detail around smoking and brining meat,” says Becky. “It was a chance to consider
levels, amounts, application ratios and percentage rates going into the formulation.”
Gary Emery, UK Business Development Director, says the academy is a ‘great vehicle’ to help tell the Besmoke story and highlight the importance of flavour leadership. “We are a very technical business with products that sit across multiple culinary applications. We need to be able to help customers – who are one step away from the end-user – be more creative themselves. We are ‘selling brown powder’, an ingredient that is a very small component of what they do, but it has such a big impact. The academy will help explain the value of Besmoke innovation and put us on more purchasers’ radar. We anticipate more customers, including big companies, will be interested in coming in.”
“The academy is a great vehicle to help tell the Besmoke story and highlight the importance of flavour leadership.”
Gary, whose recent arrival in post is the latest step in a career devoted to food manufacture and sales, says the academy reflects much of what impresses him about Besmoke.
“What excites me about the business is the entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to embrace ideas. I see two different sides to it, technical and creative. The innovation centre will help us translate and articulate our science into something chefs will understand, the finished product. Since the EU ban and the wider public awareness around ultra-processed foods and artificial flavourings, the world has flipped. Besmoke is like the white knight. The more you understand, the more you can talk with gravitas. Given the heavily regulated food market we are in, everyone in the industry needs knowledge and insight on how to stay legally safe and technically compliant while delivering on flavour and price. The innovation centre is a place where all that can be discussed.”
We have begun laboratory work on smoke flavour possibilities based around colas. This follows successive visits to the US by founder and CEO Huw Griffiths who has been inspired by the prospect of a cola ‘flavour key’ bringing a new dimension in depth and complexity to smoky American barbecue. Huw believes there is scope to create signature cola flavours that could be applied to barbecue sauces, condiments, seasonings and marinades. Creating amazing new cola flavour ingredients will complement ongoing R&D activity involving bourbons and whiskies. We hope to present concepts around cola to customers in the US, UK and European barbecue markets in due course.
Flavour innovation is a key theme of the latest US market report from Rubix Foods. The manufacturer has been assessing the flavours most likely to dominate American restaurant menus in the years ahead. Its analysis included the food and drinks that Gen Z respondents (those born between 1997 and 2012) would turn into a sauce if they could. Feedback referenced both brand names and flavour profiles. Ten percent of Gen Z respondents cited ‘soda’, and among the most commonly requested sodas were colas. At the same time, the analysis found that YouTube searches for ‘coke bbq sauce’ have gone up by 60% since November 2023.
FLAVOUR TALK:
Held this year in London at the end of March, Flavour Talk is an interactive ‘speed-dating’-type conference and expo founded in 2010 by Professor Dave Baines, Besmoke’s innovation and technology leader. “It’s an ideal platform to engage with a scientific audience,” explains Dave.
This year’s event attracted 46 companies from across the world who gathered for two days of exhibitions, panel sessions and networking at London’s Kensington Millennium Gloucester Hotel. Key themes included the latest research on taste receptors and the science around gustation and olfaction. Besmoke had several representatives in attendance and the agenda featured a product demonstration from us on our new salt flavour enhancer Saltex® IFFA:
We are set to exhibit for the first time at IFFA, the world’s leading trade fair for innovations in process technology for meat and alternative proteins. Taking place in Frankfurt in May, IFFA 2025 is an ideal opportunity to meet with key distributors, customers, R&D managers and purchasers from Europe and beyond to discuss flavour ingredients. IFFA is held every three years and we are thrilled to be manning our own exhibition stand for the first time (Hall 11.1 C18). Our team will be: Huw Griffiths, CEO; Colin Hitch, Chief Commercial Officer; Peter Dingelhoff, Global Technical Sales Director; and Gary Emery, UK Business Development Director.
Peter, who has visited IFFA in previous roles, says: “It’s always a massive reunion for industry players. From Besmoke’s point of view, we’re there to highlight how our innovative smoke and grill ingredients combine with meat, plant-based and hybrid products to enrich proteins with outstanding flavour. A key focus this year will be the impact of the EU ban on smoke flavourings. We’ll be keen to explain how we provide the obvious solution to that for manufacturers and processors through our patented, clean-label technology and product innovation.”
Huw says: “The European meat industry represents our biggest immediate growth opportunity because of the phasing out of smoke flavourings. We’ll emphasise to industry representatives at IFFA that we can support them as they move away from flavourings targeted in the ban. At the same time, we’ll be highlighting our new relationships with partners and distributors including global player Azelis.
FIC:
As well as attending IFFA in Germany, Peter Dingelhoff, Global Technical Sales Director, spent most of March in China visiting customers and attending FIC, the Food Ingredients China trade show in Shanghai. Peter was on the booth of our Chinese distributor QD Taste.