01
Lift the salty signal
We use naturally derived flavour enhancers, kokumi modulators and selected yeast extracts to make a smaller amount of sodium read as more salt on the tongue. The label drops. The taste does not.
Southport since 2002
Less sodium.
Taste your shoppers know.
Send us your reformulation brief. A flavourist at the VKA® Australia bench in Southport, Queensland will read it inside one business day and come back with a starting direction for your category.
One business day to a first read. No contract to start a conversation.
Why this matters here
Australian sodium targets
are now on the shelf.
Salt is one of the oldest seasonings on the bench. It is also one of the most-watched ingredients in Australian food policy. Through the Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Program, FSANZ, the Department of Health and food makers have set voluntary sodium reduction targets across bread, processed meats, savoury snacks, cheese, soup, sauces and ready meals.
By the 2023 to 2024 financial year, participating companies had removed about 145 tonnes of sodium from the Australian food supply, and the share of reported products meeting their Wave 1 target rose from 69 percent at baseline to 82 percent at the four-year check (ABS, Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Program reports).
The brands that hit those targets without losing taste are the ones holding shelf space. Salt does more than make food salty. It suppresses bitterness, lifts sweetness and carries aroma. Pull the salt out and the food falls flat. The job is to rebuild what salt was doing, not just take it away.
82%
of reported products meeting Wave 1 sodium targets at the four-year check. Source: Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Program, ABS.
145 t
of sodium removed from the Australian food supply by participating companies in 2023 to 2024. Source: Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Program.
FSANZ
the Australian and New Zealand regulator sets the labelling rules for sodium and the umami and yeast extract ingredients we work with.
How we work the problem
Rebuild what salt
was doing.
Cutting sodium is not the goal. The goal is a product your shoppers cannot tell you changed. Here is how a flavourist at our Southport bench approaches the brief.
02
Bring the savoury body back
Pull salt out and the savoury feel goes with it. Targeted umami, including yeast extracts and naturally occurring glutamates and nucleotides, holds the depth and roundness that shoppers expect from a savoury food.
03
Carry the aroma forward
Salt suppresses bitterness and pushes top notes into the nose. Take it out and aromas thin and bitterness creeps in. We rework the flavour build so the top notes still arrive and the off notes stay flat.
04
Fit your existing process
Your line is your line. We formulate to your existing recipe and process window so you do not rebuild around us. Liquid, paste, spray dried, dry blend, hot fill, retort. Tell us what you are running and we work to it.
The point
Flavour for Australia has to be developed and made in Australia. 23 years at the Southport site.
VKA Australia, since 2002
Categories we work in
Savoury, across the Tasman.
Our salt reduction work is built for the categories where sodium gets the most attention from regulators, retailers and shoppers. Aussie and Kiwi makers across the Tasman, brief us on the spec.
Snacks, chips and extruded products
Processed meats, smallgoods and ready meals
Soups, stocks and broths
Sauces, dressings, marinades and condiments
Bread, rolls and savoury bakery
Seasonings, rubs and dry mixes
Next step
Bring us your sodium
reduction brief.
Tell us the current sodium level, the target on the label, the category and the process. A flavourist at the Southport bench will read your brief inside one business day and come back with a starting direction. No contract to start a conversation.
One business day to a first read. Southport, Queensland.