Spice And Flavor Industry: Purpose To Production

"We live in a world where lemonade is made from artificial flavoring and furniture polish is made from real lemons," said Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman. Throughout history, the spice industry has evolved from primitive humans flavoring meat with leaves, to multi-billion dollar companies injecting chemical compounds into common foods; from tasting a few minute grains on entrйes to feeling a discharge of natural and artificial flavors from exquisite candies, and from scavenging the world for priceless spices to inspecting every ingredient for harmful side-affects.

The first speculated accounts of adding flavorings or spices to food go back over fifty thousand years, when primitive humans used aromatic leaves to flavor food (Add Spice). They wanted to cook meat in a hot pit, so they wrapped it in leaves to protect it from soot and ash. After taking the meat out of the greens, they noticed a distinct change in flavor. Thus the art of seasoning was born (The History of Spice). And that art was not officially seen until thousands of years later.

The first recorded use of spice, in 3000 B.C., was from an Assyrian myth, which said "gods drank sesame wine the night before they created the earth". But spices were not developed until 200 B.C., when the Romans sailed from Egypt to India for spice trade and valued spices as highly as gold. Spice trading continued in Rome until around 1200, when Marco Polo's exploration of Asia established Venice as the most important trade port. Columbus then arrived in America in 1492 with a partial-plan to find spice. About fifteen years later, Magellan took voyage to sail west around the world with five ships. Although he died in the Philippines, one ship returned to Spain, bringing back enough pepper so that the trip was a financial success.

After several countries participated in spice trade, it finally entered the United States in 1797 by Captain Jonathan Carnes. He brought the first large cargo of pepper from Sumatra, which put the U.S. in world spice trade for the first time (Spice Advice). By 1805, the U.S. reached the peak of pepper trade with Sumatra, and exports alone totaled seven million pounds that year (Spice History Timeline). The spice industry started in 1821, in Boston, Massachusetts, where the first nameless spice grinding company was formed (Spices: Time Line).

Other spice and flavor companies formed as well; today they are huge corporations. Two of them, International Flavor & Fragrances (IFF) and McCormick, started out with a few ideas and a concrete plan. IFF and McCormick are among the top competitors in the food industry and specifically focus on the flavoring of foods. America's fast technological and social advances scripted a path for these companies to create different flavors in more efficient ways.

Although not started in America, IFF made its breakthrough in the United States, and the company originated in 1851 when William Bush acquired a small factory in London (IFF History). William Bush's factory produced special oils using the idea of steam-distilling herbs and spices. In 1869, another company, A. Boake, Roberts & Co. was founded and later began manufacturing flavoring essences and distilling essential oils. Twenty years later, two men, Polak and Schwarz, formed a business to process concentrated fruit juices. Eventually these would all join to become a part of the IFF Corporation.

Within seven years, the excessive sales and products required a new factory to be opened. A soon to be IFF extension first entered the United States in 1917 when A.L. van Ameringen immigrated to join a U.S. agent of Polak & Schwarz, but Ameringen quickly left to start his own company. Finally, in 1958, a merger between the worldwide operations of Polak & Schwarz and van Ameringen joined together and renamed to International Flavors & Fragrances, thus forming the modern-day company.

Not only does IFF participate in flavoring, but as the name suggests, a vast amount of their company creates different fragrances. In 1967, one year after Ameringen died, IFF opened a new research and development center in New Jersey. From 2000 to today, IFF and another top company, Givaudan, have a lead in the flavor and fragrance business. However, as of 2003, IFF controlled 11.7 percent of the market share and generated $1.9 billion in sales, which ranks them second in the industry (F & F: Top 10). Besides flavors and fragrances, spices have also transformed America's view on flavoring foods.

The other leading company in the spice business is McCormick. In 1889, the well-known spice company started in a cellar by Willoughby M. McCormick and his staff of two girls and a boy. Some of his first products were fruit syrups, extracts, root beer, and juices, sold under "Bee Brand" and "Silver Medal" trademarks. Less than ten years later, McCormick had enough money to buy the F.G. Emmett Spice Company of Philadelphia, which started a part of the McCormick we know today.

Four years later, in 1900, he started shipping to South Africa, Europe, South and Central America, and the East and West Indies. The company prospered even after Willoughby McCormick died in 1932. After his 36-year-old nephew C.P. McCormick took his place, he introduced the concept of "multiple management" - an idea to supplement senior management judgment with new ideas from other McCormick employees (McCormick).

Soon thereafter, McCormick started using metal containers, which won seven national packaging awards in 1937. Nothing boosted the company morale more than acquiring Canada's largest spice firm, Corman Eckert & Co. Ltd. in 1959. Just a couple years later, McCormick purchased Baker Extract Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Even after C. P. McCormick died of a heart attack in 1970, the company kept manufacturing spices and flavors. By 1979, McCormick had purchased Acquired All Portions, Inc., TV Time Foods, Inc., Astro Foods, Inc. and