Salem County, New Jersey – (11.15.12) – Food and flavor trends are a mix of art and science, culture, invention and reinvention. Having followed and studied them for years, the sales and marketing portion of flavor trending begin to become transparent and secondary to identifiable and enjoyable sensations of the nose, eyes and taste buds. Novel items are short-lived for good reason or just because they become commonplace and their lure fades when it becomes “Nope, don’t want that anymore. Everybody’s got that now.” A good example would be the rise, fall and stabilization of sun-dried tomatoes in the 1990’s. They were one of the lucky ones, smacking the market hard, faded, and then became a staple ingredient. Most supermarkets now carry one or more forms of them.

In early 2010, yearning to learn more about culinary ingredients and techniques led us past reading each of one hundred or so cookbooks to analyzing trends and working with cutting-edge ingredients from around the world. Expensive mistakes often lead to paying closer attention, so that’s what we did.

Associative and re-invented flavor trends seem to be the most powerful, successful and, well….cool. For example, look at the vitamin/electrolyte-water market. Water has no flavor, but when mixed with electrolytes like Gatorade does worked because of associated health value and remains a huge, lasting success. Simply count the variety and sheer volume of aisle space provided these colored and multi-flavored beverages in your local market and you’ll get the idea. We have definitive thoughts about “energy beverages”, but shall keep those thoughts private for now.

We believe, or at least hope, that all of us strive for improvement and perhaps begin part of making something better. The art side of Obis One, LLC clashes with the mathematics/science side many times each day. The designers and inventors in us are experienced enough to recognize that, almost every time, failure seems eminent. But giving up or running away just isn’t an option, when perhaps that would yield better results. But…not this time.

We are pleased to report that there is strong evidence that black garlic is not a passing novelty and is here to stay. Flavor specialists like Bell and Sensient both feature black garlic as a top 3 flavor profile. It’s the associative and re-invention characteristics of black garlic that are simply hard to ignore. It comes from fresh garlic which is highly recognizable and a huge staple worldwide, and it has twice the antioxidants of regular fresh garlic. The kicker is its beckoning, wildly interesting flavor profile and texture. Think chewy, supple, sensational deep flavors and aroma and no bite or bad breath!

At this point, an extra-ordinary effort is underway by our family to carve out an ever-so-tiny niche market for our black garlic products. Others make it and we wish them well. We have our own proprietary process with one interconnected mantra – make it as healthy and ethically as possible. Grow and use only organic garlic, no additives or preservatives and no marketing ploys. We are gaining substantial support in that our texture profile is superior to other pasty forms of black garlic.

It’s either black or white for us. In the garlic market, we offer both. Grown here, made here…in our USA.