Flavor Fascination

February 2024

The BOSS Magazine

AS A UNIQUE GLOBAL FLAVOR DEVELOPER, CITROMAX BUILDS ITS HERITAGE AND SUCCESS ON TASTE AND A QUEST TO BRING NEW SENSATIONS TO THE TABLE

There are only about 500 flavor scientists on the planet, and Elaine Kellman is one of them. As Senior Vice President of Citromax Flavors, Inc., the world’s foremost creator of flavors, she is living her dream, and bringing people all over the world together with innovative flavors that ignite the five elements of taste: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and Umami.

Flavor chemistry is an elite scientific pursuit, and when Kellman was planning her career trajectory she’d never even heard of it. As a chemist earning her PhD in genetics, she realized she didn’t find joy while working in that field. “I was determined to find a career that involved chemistry, maybe biology, but that would also be nice and fun and perhaps with some artistic element. I didn't want to get stuck in a career that I didn't love, and I was determined to find something.” She went on the hunt for a temporary job as she searched for her heart’s work.

Despite being overqualified, she accepted a role as a lab technician for International Flavors and Fragrances, one of the largest flavor producers in the world. “It was supposed to be temporary, but I loved it. It smelled different every day and people seemed happy.” She entered the IFF training program for flavor development and received a combined MBA/master’s in food science and chemistry from NYU Gallatin.

Before accepting her instrumental role in launching the Citromax Flavors division, she worked for three of the five largest global flavor developers. “I am a flavor chemist by training and swore that no matter where I was in my career, I would always create flavors because that's my passion,” she said.