By Stacey Hawley / Co-Founder Forté Flavors

Flavored chocolate is a crowd-pleaser, rapid prototype, and it’s easy with the right tools. First off, oil-soluble flavors are a must to prevent the chocolate from seizing. Oil-soluble flavorings also help maintain a smooth and creamy texture consumers expect with eating chocolate. My go-to tool for this application is a candy melting pot. Although this little gizmo will not temper the chocolate, it will gently melt the chocolate and then keep it melted at the right temperature while you are working. A little goes a long way, so I typically make 100 grams of flavored chocolate at a time. I waste less raw materials and can create multiple options very quickly. Use different shaped molds for each flavored prototype so you can quickly identify the flavor profile in use.

Chocolate is an excellent delivery system for CBD. Carefully calculate the dosage per piece, so your tasters know precisely what they are ingesting. I use a CBD concentrate derived from 100% hemp plants grown in Oregon. Our top pick flavor profile for this CBD application is Forté’s allergen-free, Natural Hazelnut Type Flavor. The nutty profile pairs well with the astringent tang from the CBD. To make way for subtle profiles such as Vanilla Bean, add in Forté’s Natural Masking Type Flavor along with the characterizing flavor.

Forté is here to help you find your forte. Reach out to us if you want flavor samples or a taste of our latest, rapid prototype. 

Keep well!

To kick off the cozy season, we put together a list of our fall-inspired flavors… because there’s so much more flavor to fall than just pumpkin spice. Download our flavor lineup below and fall into the season with us!

Forte Flavors Fall Flavor List, 2020

Valencia, CA (September 4, 2020) — Forté Flavors, LLC, a business specializing in flavor development and manufacturing, is proud to announce national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council – West, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

“It’s vital to the team here at Forté Flavors to provide other women like ourselves with the recognition, support, empowerment to grow and be successful.” said Forté Flavors Co-founder Janet Guzman. “Women are incredible and amazing things can happen when we uplift each other.” 

WBENC’s national standard of certification implemented by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council – West is a meticulous process including an in-depth review of the business and site inspection. The certification process is designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a woman or women.

 By including women-owned businesses among their suppliers, corporations and government agencies demonstrate their commitment to fostering diversity and the continued development of their supplier diversity programs.

About Forté Flavors, LLC:

Founded March 2019, Forté Flavors is a women-owned flavor development and manufacturing company. Forté Flavors offers over 50 years of combined experience in the food and beverage industry and delivers innovative solutions, premium quality, safe and sustainable flavors to food and beverage companies in the United States and Canada.  For more information, visit www.forteflavors.com.

by Stacey Hawley / Co-Founder Forté Flavors

Times are very different from March 5, 2020, when Forté exhibited at the SCIFT Suppliers’ Night in Anaheim, CA. COVID and SIP have made it challenging to do “business as usual”. Good news though, R&D is crafty, and working from home offers a great opportunity to rapid prototype. Rapid prototyping means transforming your ideas into things very quickly. The materials and supplies do not need to be extravagant and many suppliers like Forté, will ship ingredients directly to your home. Creating a rapid prototype from home allows me to tap into my wild ideas completely. Toss those “can this be commercialized?” thoughts aside for the moment. The objective here is to get out of your head and just make something!

The shopping list is short if you are creating a food product. You may have what you need right in your very own kitchen. Although the process is free-flowing, I always recommend taking good notes and measuring each ingredient with a simple scale (available on Amazon). This way when you are back in the lab, you have a good starting point. If your idea drifts to packaging, explore your craft drawer or search your local grocery store for food items in unique packages. Save the packaging and then put your product in it to see how your product translates to another level. We are here to help you find your forté.

Reach out if you need help getting started. Keep safe!

Today, we’re toasting to #WorldCocktailDay and to honor this global celebration we’ve created a way to bring together a few trending exotic flavors into one delicious experience!

Get the recipe for the ‘Tropically Passionate Mule’ HERE

Today marks the anniversary of Mexico’s Battle of Puebla victory during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862. Typically, the day is commemorated with parades and parties but seeing as we will be spending our Cinco de Mayo social distancing, we want to share with you our favorite margarita recipe to help you celebrate the day with a fun fiesta at home!

Get the recipe HERE