Dairy Foods on May 7 visited Virginia Dare’s new headquarters and toured the facility to see where flavor and extract formulation begins. 

The facility, located in Carteret, N.J., boasts twice the size of its prior Brooklyn, N.Y., location, which served the company for nearly 100 years. After donning a lab coat, we saw food scientists working on vanilla formulations, checked out tasting stations, and much more.

Virginia Dare first opened the state-of-the-art location in 2020. However, it has not fully utilized the entire space until this January. The company looked at many potential sites and chose one just 10 minutes away from Newark Liberty International Airport to make it much easier for customers and other guests to visit. The facility is 20 miles away from its former location.

The facility is home to nearly 200 team members, and employee retention since the move has been 90%, the company stated.

Eduardo Villagomez, vice president of Vanilla Products at Virginia Dare, told Dairy Foods that dairy customers are primarily looking for natural, clean-label flavors and extracts. “Organic and fair-trade is a big thing when it comes to sustainability,” he said. “They are looking for a way to show social responsibility that is huge not only for them, but consumers as well.”

Vanilla, like other commodities, can be price sensitive based upon a particular year’s crop. Fortunately, the price of the ingredient has declined in the past couple of years, Villagomez revealed. But, he added it is difficult for dairy processors to manufacture vanilla extract when the price can increase significantly in a year. 

“The flavor profile vanilla provides is very difficult to replicate with another flavor,” he said. “Virginia Dare has its own sourcing entity in Madagascar, called Virginia Dare Madagascar, which is a unique setup in the flavor industry. It is in the vanilla growing region, and we employ about 200 people there. We source directly from farmers and all of the vanilla that comes out of that facility is either organic or fair-trade certified.”

Approximately 85% of the world’s vanilla comes from Madagascar, with the ingredient also available in Indonesia, India, Mexico and some other locations, Villagomez added, but pricing and experience of farmers make Madagascar a primary provider.

Virginia Dare is certainly known for vanilla, very important for several dairy products, with ice cream being one. Philip Caputo, marketing and consumer insights manager, said vanilla may seem like a simple flavor, but it so important to many flavor profiles. 

“It could be vanilla birthday cake. It could be vanilla acai. There are so many flavor combinations,” he said. “Customers often come to us and want to diversify, and vanilla is always a good flavor to start with.”

 On a taste standpoint, Philip Caputo, marketing and consumer insights manager, points to creative and nostalgic flavors. “Our customers are getting more creative with protein-based powders for example,” he said.  

 Ice cream is a great place to try flavor combinations, he added. “In terms of nostalgic flavors, consumers are looking for flavors that remind them of the past, like things that remind you of your childhood and great experiences,” Caputo said. “Nostalgic works for millennials as well. They like retro. They want to see what things were like in the ‘80s for example.”

 Beyond nostalgia, international flavors that include cardamom and cinnamon are also popular, Caputo concluded.