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Perfume is sold in the food industry.
Typing in a few notes may not make much sense of the song, but when it comes to taste and smell, you don’t need Shazam to identify the song. Just one whiff takes you back to your childhood with a pile of pancakes dripping with maple syrup or grandma’s chicken soup on the stove.
Food companies have long capitalized on this phenomenon by linking their launches to specific time periods or memories. When Pop-Tarts launched its bite-sized Crunchy Poppers Frosted Brownie snacks, it wanted to evoke the feeling of eating cereal while watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Pop-Tarts called it “a little nostalgia and a lot of guilt.” Online, it was referred to as ‘vintage breakfast in a bag’ and ‘memories of childhood in the 90s’.
Scent has the power to unlock vivid memories, especially about food. Once accessed, it often triggers a very specific craving for a taste from the past. As a recent New Yorker article points out, it has been physiologically proven that smell and taste are the senses most closely associated with memory.
There are people who dedicate their lives to recreating unwritten family recipes, while others simply want to have a bite of something familiar (often decadent) in a new form. That’s why Voodoo Donuts Maple Bacon Bars were such a huge success, and Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream was the obvious choice when it debuted in 1984. This snack is a new concept that tastes like home-made but doesn’t require any frying or baking.
For many nostalgic products, it’s the way these flavors evoke memories that keep them powerful. “Today, nostalgic flavors are a cue of comfort beyond retro appeal,” says Katie Ursinus, an analyst at Innova Market Insights, which tracks food spending trends.
According to an Innova survey, 85% of consumers said that familiar or comfortable tastes had the greatest influence on their choices. Fragrances also play a big role in innovating healthier snacks and providing better enjoyment to consumers.
“Retro vibe” or “healthy food” is now a true snack category, with a growing demand for products that evoke familiar tastes and culinary experiences in convenient packaging. And as consumers tighten their wallets in the face of persistent inflation, nostalgia becomes more likely.
“A nostalgic food or drink can provide a much-needed escape,” says Ursinus.
The Science of Perfume
As big snack brands look to capture nostalgic flavors in new forms, they need food science to make them taste just like we remember.
“Food companies use science to recreate sensory anchors while respecting the individuality of memory and cultural context,” says Kantha Shelke, senior lecturer and food scientist at Johns Hopkins.
There is a difference between what the flavor industry does and how food companies use it. “The flavor industry uses real foods as reference standards, essentially analyzing the compounds that produce characteristic tastes and aromas to ‘match’ target flavor profiles (bubble gum, birthday cake, peanut butter and jelly, etc.).”
Shelke says food companies use a variety of flavor combinations to replicate these characteristics. “One company may use a specific blend of compounds such as vanilla, butter, and cake to produce a ‘birthday cake’ flavor, while another company may use a completely different combination of approved flavor substances to provide a similar sensory endpoint.”
Sometimes the analysis can be closely guarded and highly sought-after proprietary information, such as KFC’s famous “7 herbs and spices.” When Coca-Cola briefly changed its core product to New Coca-Cola in 1985, everyone lost their minds. They were worried that they would never have that classic taste in their lives again.
“Comfort has become a powerful emotional driver, and food plays a key role in conveying it. A bite that takes someone back to a cherished memory or simpler time can bring deep relief and joy,” says Sebastian Bonfanti, Global Business Unit Leader for Flavors at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), which creates flavor compounds for a variety of food companies.
“Nostalgic snacks are not only popular but also essential,” he adds. “Consumers want products that evoke warmth and familiarity, and brands that can deliver that experience while meeting modern consumers’ expectations will continue to thrive.”
“Modern expectations” means Bonfanti giving classic snacks a makeover. That means achieving today’s wellness mark, such as lowering sugar, sodium, and fat, or making it plant-based, while maintaining the taste you crave and nostalgize for. He says IFF’s “conditioning solutions” help the brand create products that “make every meal part of the experience, preserving flavors that are balanced and enjoyable, with which memories and emotions are intertwined.”
They can add a nostalgic flavor to your food, but if they don’t taste good – they’re not crunchy enough, too airy, too dense, etc. – they won’t succeed as a replacement for fat, sugar, salt, etc. For example, Only Bean, which makes crunchy roasted pea snacks, was able to use ranch flavor as an obvious nostalgic throwback to classic Doritos snack chips.
Bonfanti reveals that today’s healthy snacks are often made with protein (such as brown rice, chickpeas, chia, flax or peas) and whole grain fiber to replace the “bad” ingredients, which is why many of these snacks fall into the protein powder, bar or crisp category.
If we follow our tastes, it’s no wonder many of us stay awake (That’s me espresso Because, as pop star Sabrina Carpenter put it, coffee is the most nostalgic flavor today, according to Innova, followed by chocolate and caramel. But salty flavors are catching up.
“Favorites like mac and cheese, grilled cheese, pizza and grilled chicken are being reimagined as snacks, frozen meals and plant-based innovations, tapping into childhood staples and family meals,” says Innova’s Urnisust.
She notes that plant-based brands are leaning toward the smoky, cheesy flavors traditionally associated with animal proteins. Regional cuisines are also driving the snack market, with flavors like rice cakes and tres leches entering the mainstream.
Can’t decide? Saltiness is officially a thing. Try products like Fairfield Farm Honey Roasted Chestnut & Sage Crisps, Oreo Chocolate Coated Pretzel Sandwich Cookies, and even Trü Frü Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Snacks (which, according to the brand, will instantly take you back to the best moments of summer, from days spent at camp to nights at the World’s Fair).
How will AI help define the future of taste?
Although robots can’t taste yet, modern technologies like neurogastronomics (the study of how the brain recognizes food and flavors) and AI could have a big impact on how these nostalgic tastes are developed.
Shelke explains the difference as follows: “Neurogastronomics, still in its infancy, can provide a strategic advantage by revealing how these factors influence the consumer experience and guide the optimization of taste profiles, presentation and aesthetics.”
AI maps how brands can predict which flavors will be just right, Shelke says, guiding humans to rekindle those fond memories. Companies are now using AI to decipher and recreate complex flavors that match all emotional characteristics.
Shelke notes that DSM-Firmenich created its first AI-generated flavor using E-creation 3.0 with natural beef notes used in plant-based meats. Other companies following suit include Givaudan with its Advanced Tools For Modeling (ATOM) system and Giuseppe Al from NotCo.
But just as robot-generated photos clearly have extra limbs, humans will also notice if something tastes different than what they remember.
“While health-conscious adaptations are welcome, they must deliver the same satisfying tastes that consumers associate with their favorite childhood foods,” says Bonfanti. “There is no room for compromise. Perfume demands authenticity, and this starts with taste.”
