The Western Suburb’s FlavorChem is a family business in a worldwide market

By Maureen Callahan

“We make flavors from A-Z,” said Eric Larson, Production Manager at FlavorChem. “We don’t actively sell a zucchini flavor yet, but we do sell a Greek Yogurt flavor, so technically, I guess we’re A-Y,” he jokes.

FlavorChem is an international enterprise that manufactures over 5,000 flavors, fragrances, and ingredient solutions annually for private-label food products on four global campuses. The company’s headquarters and largest operation is located on the northern border of Downers Grove.

To understand just how broad FlavorChem’s reach is, President Ken Malanowski says to “picture any aisle in a grocery store, except the produce department, and you’ll understand the size of the scent and flavor market.”

Just about anything in the food or beverage world has a flavor and a scent. Personal care items like lip balm, lotion, toothpaste, and perfume, as well as art supplies, stationery, and even toys, fall under this umbrella as well. When you consider the spectrum of consumer products that require scent and taste, it is truly mind-boggling.

When a customer requires a flavor, for example, a candy company, a chemist, who is also a flavorist, works with them to fulfill their request. The flavorist uses analytical equipment to get the formula about 90% finished based on data from the company’s 6,000-plus sample library. The final 10% is what makes the flavor unique. The formula is tweaked in one of FlavorChem’s onsite labs until the customer is satisfied.

The flavorist’s expertise is crucial, as Customer A might need a blueberry flavor for baked goods versus Customer B, who needs a blueberry flavor for ice cream, which would be quite different. It’s truly a niche field. There are only 800 flavorists worldwide, and FlavorChem employs ten of them.   

“Our clients are the Fortune 500 of the food, candy, and beverage market,” said Ross Sprovieri, Owner and CEO of Flavor Chem

While FlavorChem’s campus consists of nine buildings, its most significant manufacturing space is dedicated to liquid production. A cast of 70 employees covers three shift operations, five days and nights a week. About 300,000 lbs. of flavor are made annually in this 20,000-square-foot area. A little goes a long way. Most flavors are used at about .1 – .5%. One pound of flavor makes about 1,000 lbs. of candy.

The average customer orders about 150 gallons of flavor concentrate at a time. Orders are hand-filled and packaged to ensure careful quality control. Every product passes rigorous quality tests. “The idea is that the order passes several sets of eyes to be sure all is correct before it leaves us,” said Larson. Every item is FDA, Kosher, Halal, Organic, and SQF (Safe Quality Foods – a globally recognized food safety and quality management and certification) certified.

FlavorChem, once a small operation, is now a mid-sized player in the industry. Their book of business is extensive. “Our clients are the Fortune 500 of the food, candy, and beverage market,” said Ross Sprovieri, Owner and CEO. “They’re all household names.”

The company was started by Ross’s father, Salvatore Sprovieri. The chemist began his career at Chicago candy giant Brach’s Corporation in the early fifties. At the time, there were only a handful of flavor companies that served the entire food industry. Salvatore spent the next ten years learning how to make flavors.

At the time, Brach’s was the world’s largest candy maker – a one-stop shop for chocolates, gummies, and other types of confections, all under one roof. There were hundreds of flavors to study. Eventually, Salvatore reverse-engineered all the flavors the candy magnate bought to make their product. By the end of his decade run, he had shown the corporation how to extract their own vanilla, peppermint, and citrus oils.

Salvatore’s next move was to Liquid Carbonic, a compressed gas company that sold carbon dioxide to bottling plants. A visionary, he realized the possible market for soft drink flavors. Over the course of his employment, he created flavors like orange, grape, and cherry that were sold to the bottling plants to make flavored soda.

After being laughed out of a presentation at which he suggested Liquid Carbonic create their own soda flavors, Salvatore packed his desk and left. “He called my mother right after the meeting and told her they were going into business for themselves,” said Ross. “Things happen for a reason, though. Had it not been for the condescension of his boss that day, FlavorChem might never have happened.”

General Sugar Products – FlavorChem’s first business name – began in Salvatore’s basement. His brother, Phillip, became his partner. Their first products were 5-gallon syrup tanks of flavoring that created soda pop when mixed with carbonated water. The sale of the flavor concentrates generated enough cash to build a 1,000-square-foot building in Bellwood. One thing led to another, and an acquisition got the Sprovieri brothers into bakery flavors, followed by vanilla extract.

“Every weekend and sometimes at night, we worked as a family,” Ross remembered. “It was a grind. The wives and kids helped in the beginning. Our label printer wasn’t perforated, so we folded and tore the labels as we watched TV at night.”

Fast forward to FlavorChem today, with a workforce of 300 strong on the Downers Grove campus (400 globally). The company is now acquiring buildings and businesses worldwide, the most recent being Huber the Nose, a Zurich-based company with 50 years of flavor and fragrance research.

The business the Sprovieri family built has grown exponentially, but is still family-owned. And it feels like it. “We try hard to take care of our employees,” said Ross. “Our goal is for our workforce to enjoy being here and feel appreciated.” With several crew members celebrating 30 years or more, it’s working.

Community outreach enhances the familial feel of this workplace. Employee engagement teams work with charitable causes, from humane societies to food banks to adopt-a-family programs near the holidays.

The company periodically hosts students from the College of DuPage’s Culinariology School to discuss career opportunities. Hinsdale Central’s Women in Engineering Club visited the campus for a broader view of job possibilities in flavor and fragrance. Second graders from The Avery Coonley School signed on as “flavorists for a day” as they learned about supply chains and community economics for a social studies lesson.

FlavorChem is happy to help. “The village has been good to us over the years,” Ross knows. “We’re glad to give back to education and also be a part of the economic engine of Downers Grove.”