Ep. 142 - The Flavors of Leadership with Bryson Bolton, Manager of Sensory at Synergy Flavors

I met Bryson Bolton at the IGNITE sessions, a session where 5 new professionals were asked to present their path through food science. Bryson and I got to talking and I loved his enthusiasm so I asked him to be on the show.

We have a pretty timely interview, as many listeners might have heard, La Croix is getting sued on their natural flavors. Bryson gives great insight into the world of sensory and consumer sciences that might allow you to understand how working with flavor houses work.

Bryson is also heavily involved in IFT along with many other sensory organizations. You’ll not only get some great resources in the field of sensory science but also learn how Bryson rose up the ranks to become a well-connected, successful professional.

About Bryson

Bryson C. Bolton is the Manager of Sensory and Sample Collections at Synergy Flavors. He leads a team that strategically partners with RD&I, Quality, and the Commercial Team to integrate sensory understanding into the flavor and application design process. In this role, he also manages a team that selects and sends flavor samples to internal and external customers. Prior to joining Synergy Flavors, Bryson was the Sensory & Consumer Research Manager at Product Dynamics. There he provided leadership, guidance and insight on sensory and consumer research activities. He was a primary customer contact and served as a key client advisor and resource to many food, beverage, and ingredient manufacturers. Prior to Product Dynamics, Bryson was a Sensory Scientist at Kraft Foods, Inc. There, he provided sensory and consumer science support to the Grocery R&D Community and the Center of Excellence for Cheese and Dairy.  Bryson is an active IFT volunteer and is currently serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors. He is a former Adjunct Sensory Evaluation Instructor at Dominican University and is an active member in the American Society for Testing Materials, E-18 and the Society of Sensory Professionals.   

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Show Notes

Debra Zabrodil IGNITE Session When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you say?: I teach people how to taste. What is Food Science? What do you do?: I’m in sensory and sample collection as a manager. I work for Synergy Flavors Wauconda Illinois Sample Collection: Allows us to optimize sending out samples to customers. 10,000 of these flavors are on the shelf and allows us to quickly send to our customers. What is the best way to request flavors?: Ask an account manager. You must also know the claims, your budget, the price point for this flavor, shelf-life, processing, to help us choose flavors Maltodextrin Gum Arabic How did you find out about food science? I actually started to fall in love with it when I had to develop my own gelatinous sauces Bryson doesn’t like Cranberry Sauce, so he was able to make a pineapple and cantaloupe sauce. He did the whole process. I made Pantalope sauce! 9 Point Hedonic Scale Harry Lawless On Sensory Evaluation by Harry Lawless and Hildegard Haven Sensory Science is a multiple disciplinary fields. It combines psychology, physics, chemistry, etc Sensory Psychophysics Sensory Physiology Sensory Analysis – a branch of food science that uses human judges to measure the perception of goods Different stages of Sensory Analysis For example, different concepts of tests. For example, market research, comparison tests, description tests, there are so many tests in the sensory test Napping technique – Origin is from a Napkin technique Because Napping is 2 dimensional, it gets complicated For sensory tests and small companies, you have to work within your budget. How much do you want to mitigate risk? New Coke Scenario When you’re a big company, you are very risk adverse How did you get involved in IFT? I’m in my 2nd year for a 3 year term as a board of directors Alabama A and M University applied to the IFT scholarship. I won the scholarship and had no idea who they were. Institute of Food Technologists – Non-profit organization in 95 countries with 17,000 memberes. Mission is to advance the science of food. Western New York IFT section Sensory and Consumer Science Division - I was the content advisor Data Visualization Fundamentals of Sensory Course Adjunct Professor at Dominican University Riverforest Illinois Robert Grevani – Past IFT president Why does your food job rock?: I'm able to strategically partner with people within my organization 7 years to be a flavor chemist Methyl anthranilate – Concord Grape Flavor Flavor chemist is what makes organic chemistry make sense What type of food trends and technology is really interesting to you?: A year ago, I became vegetarian. Started as a meatless Monday and ended up feeling really good. I lost like 20 lbs. I noticed a couple of veggie patties are really good. More plant-based media is popping around Cognitive Dissonance Beyond Meat Biggest problem that the food industry has to face: Consumer fears of chemical foods How to fix this: read more scientific articles. Ask experts in the field What is one thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: CRISPR – Gmo technology Clara Foods Favorite Quote, book or kitchen item: Quote: If you stay ready, you never have to get ready. My father taught me this. Kitchen Item: Batman shaker cup What protein shake do you drink?: Plant-protein shakes. Flavor is chocolate or peanut butter What resources would you recommend on learning about sensory?: There isn’t really one. Maybe I can start one What if you were a food scientist trying to get into sensory science?: There are plenty of short courses. Sensory short courses from Sensory software courses. IFT Society of Sensory Professionals Society of Sensory Professionals Conference Pangbourne Symposium Eurosense Conference in Europe LEEDS in Singapore UC Davis Short Course ASTM – American Society for Testing Materials- writes the standard for sensory templates Any advice for anyone who wants to go into the food industry: If you like to eat, you should go into food science. I got my cousin into food science by giving her a pass to IFT IFT Expo has cemented being a food scientist for sure IFT19 is in New Orleans The next 10 Expos will be in Chicago Where can we find you?: Find me on linkedin and just contact me on LinkedIn

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