Creating better balance in taste and in life.

In the busy world we live in today, consumers need foods that are convenient and tasty but also nutritious. Everything we eat should be delicious and worth eating, but healthy eating shouldn’t be a chore. That often means achieving great taste from fresh, well-paired natural ingredients.

In the culinary arts and food science fields we are, in reality, helping people bridge their interest in health and wellness with their desire for indulgent food experiences. And now that higher quality food experiences have become the new healthy, the door is open to combining these two universal human needs.

At Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations we love working with Lycored’s natural taste ingredients. SANTE and CTC help optimize prepared foods by providing balance, rounding, and deliciousness. This enables manufacturers and foodservice providers to reduce less attractive or artificial taste ingredients. The end result is a much higher quality product that delivers on taste while meeting the consumer’s expectations of health and wellness.

We work daily with ingredients and taste profiles that make food both healthier and more craveable. We also believe in promoting the importance of mealtime, particularly dinnertime, as an opportunity for greater engagement, both with our palates and with each other.

My recommendations, to other chefs and to consumers alike, are to focus on three relatively simple areas:

Health and wellness: Mindfully aim to bridge interests between healthy ideals and indulgent desires in food choice and preparation. This often means getting creative to swap out less healthy ingredients for alternatives that are lower in fat, sugar, or salt.

Palate planning: Become more purposeful with the right menu ideas and curated shopping lists. Take time to do this more thoughtfully.

Social connection: Recognize the dinner table as something beyond a piece of furniture—it as a place where memorable moments and personal connections are served right alongside the main course.