When you source flavourings from Formula Foods, you’re not just getting top-quality ingredients and efficient service, you’re getting a taste of success.
Christchurch-based company Formula Foods has been making things taste great since 1987. Since then, owner Dave Rout has continued to build and grow the business from the ground up.
With flavourings made from scratch right here in New Zealand, Formula Foods works to provide shorter lead times, and greater flexibility on minimum order quantities.
“That’s what we have built our business on – being able to do what the client wants, when the client wants, at a respectable price,” Rout says.
“The difference in New Zealand is that there are not many companies that can offer the flexibility that we can.
“Most of the big international flavour houses will have agents in New Zealand and have an array of flavours to choose from that may not necessarily be customised to the client’s needs. Their focus is on large MOQ’s and long lead times with little flexibility to changing requirements which has made it very difficult for New Zealand companies to get what they want. So that’s what we strive to give them – from 1kg upwards.”
Rout says this willingness to look after small to medium companies without overpricing is what sets the company apart, along with offering careful and ongoing customer support.
“When we partner with the clients, we talk to them regularly, work with their forecasts and make sure everything runs smoothly. When they order, they know it’s going to come on time, and normally we can deliver within a few days of the order being received.”
Rout says being able to achieve this is thanks to a skilled team made up of the very best staff available.
“That’s always been difficult finding New Zealand specialised flavourists and technical expertise in flavour chemistry because there aren’t many available here, so we have had to look offshore, or get support from further afield.”
As for the future, Rout has his sights set on having a local spray drying facility, which he says will cut down lead times for his customers even more.
“Traditionally we have our spray-dried flavours co-manufactured in Australia because there isn’t available spray drying equipment in New Zealand. Manufacturing spray-dried flavours is more of a challenge than liquid flavours and this may not be on a large scale but will give better flexibility.”
