Crafting sensations that set meals apart

A woman with long, curly dark hair closes her eyes while biting a small red snack, framed by vivid red curtains in a quiet, intimate moment.
  • Introduction
  • Meet the Chef’s Council
  • Meet the chefs
  • Explore the 5 hot and spicy sensations
  • Discover our concepts
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Explore a new world of hot and spicy food experiences

European consumers have a growing appetite for hot and spicy food experiences. But they want more than just heat. What if you could tap into this opportunity? Transform your existing ready meals from one-dimensional dishes into multidimensional experiences. Or go even further and introduce chef-inspired, multilayered experiences to future ready meals.  

We asked our chefs to draw on five hot and spicy sensations to introduce new sensory experiences to both classic and future ready meals. Read on to discover two of the concepts we created and how our solutions can help you tackle your everyday product development challenges.  

Meet the 
Chef’s Council 

Read more

Explore the
5 sensations 

Read more

Discover our 
concepts

Read more

Meet the Chef’s Council
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Meet the Chef’s Council 

For the last 25 years we’ve partnered with some of the world’s most distinctive chefs through Chef’s Council. This year, we invited five leading culinary talents to Mexico City to reimagine hot and spicy experiences.  

 

 

Learn more about the Chef's Council

Meet the chefs
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Meet the chefs

The chefs have plenty to say about the heat you already know and the heat that’s coming next. Listen to our podcasts to discover how you can differentiate on the shelf and win market share.

Headshot of chef Cyrus Todiwala

Chef Cyrus Todiwala 

 
Headshot of chef Saul Montiel

Chef Saul Montiel 

 
Headshot of chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita

Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita 

 
Headshot of chef Mythrayie Iyer

Chef Mythrayie Iyer 

 
Headshot of chef Qian YiBin (钱以斌)

Chef Qian YiBin (钱以斌) 

 
Explore the 5 hot and spicy sensations
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Explore the 5 hot and spicy sensations

Heat is more than hot. Discover the whole range of sensations, from hot, pungent and tingling to warming and hot peppery.

A woman with long, curly dark hair closes her eyes while biting a small red snack, framed by vivid red curtains in a quiet, intimate moment.

Hot

The burn associated with chili peppers.

A young man in a beige shirt covers his mouth with one hand, smiling with amused surprise on a sunlit city street; the mood is warm and playful.

Warming

The warming character of ginger and galangal delivers greater depth.

Close-up of a smiling woman with closed eyes biting a juicy red grapefruit wedge, sunlight highlighting her face and fresh, playful mood.

Hot peppery

Delivers the heat complexity of black and white pepper. 

A young woman in a patterned red top laughs with her eyes closed, her bangs falling across her face; the close-up feels joyful and candid.

Tingling

A numbing buzz associated with Szechuan pepper and jambu fruit.

A smiling man in a mustard-yellow shirt presses both hands to his cheeks against a plain gray background, conveying joyful surprise and excitement.

Pungent

A sharp shock associated with mustard seeds and wasabi. 

Discover our concepts
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Discover our concepts

The chefs combined sensations to craft market-ready products, aided by our flavour and modulation expertise. Play the game to guess which sensations feature in each concept. 

 

Play the game

Last edited on 29 July 2026