Flavors are used to enhance the aromas of wide variety of food and drink products such as dairy products (yoghurts, ice-creams, milk drinks), beverages (soft drinks), sweets, soups and sauces , and last but not least, cigarettes etc.
Essential oils are volatile odorant materials of natural origin, i.e. fruits, flowers, plants woods etc. Among the best known are the oils or essences of bergamot, orange, lavender, rose, jasmin, patchouli, sandalwood etc. Like aroma chemicals, they are used in perfume compounds and flavors
Aroma chemicals are synthetically produced aromatic raw materials which are used both in fragrance and flavor compounds. The first aroma chemicals, the aldeyhdes were first used in the Twenties in famous perfumes such as CHANEL No. 5.
The industry turnover for 1998 is estimated at $11 billion, of which flavors represent approximately 49% and fragrances 51%.
Fragrances and and flavors are created and produced by specialty firms called Fragrance and Flavor houses. World-wide there are several hundreds of these highly specialised companies, but only the Top Twelve account for 2/3rds of the world market:
