Making Faux Meat Taste Like the Real Thing

In a sun-filled room of Givaudan SA’s Innovation Center, a four-story brick building in the gentle hills east of Zurich, dozens of white containers are stacked in neat rows. While they have labels such as “bacon,” “fried fat,” and “pork lard,” what’s inside is made of extracts of foods such as herbs, garlic, and onion, or enzymes and amino acids from cooking—and not a molecule of animal protein.

The flavorings are aimed at the growing business of meat alternatives from newcomers such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods and at industry stalwarts like Nestlé, Perdue, Smithfield, and Tyson. Increasing sales of those products is a huge opportunity for the likes of Givaudan, which can help turn insipid, mealy concoctions into something consumers crave. The Swiss company and rival producers of flavors and fragrances for innumerable consumer products—from liquor to lotion to laundry detergent—are carving out a niche in making vegan foods more appealing and nutritious. “Everyone wants in, whether it’s some defense or a desire to disrupt,” says Louie D’Amico, president of Givaudan’s flavor division. “We help companies make their products taste better.”