Addicted to Aromat – how a visit to Knorr made me relapse

In the fairytale castle of my childhood dreams, there are no princesses, mythical creatures or scary witches. No, my dream castle is home to Switzerland’s favourite seasoning: Aromat. Having said that, there are indeed a few myths surrounding some of the ingredients used at the Knorr production facility in Thayngen (Schaffhausen). I’m here to test them.

The castle owner works director of Unilever Schweiz GmbH, Daniel Lötscher, welcomes me at the entrance gate. He’s a tall man – and the six-storey production building is even taller. That’s where our tour starts.

The delivery area is where dried vegetables, salt and liquid ingredients such as oils and fats arrive. 80 per cent of raw materials for the most popular Knorr products, such as Aromat, come from Switzerland. The remaining 20 per cent includes spices and the controversial ingredient palm oil. «We only source RSPO-certified palm oil. This global certification system commits members to sustainability requirements throughout the entire supply chain. And they’re checked regularly,» Daniel Lötscher emphasises.

We pass enormous silos full of meat extracts, flour, sugar, potato starch and glutamate. They’re used to mix eight different Aromat seasonings and dozens of soups and sauces. «For people with allergies, it’s essential that we strictly separate raw materials and track them during every stage of production,» Daniel Lötscher explains. How’s this done? With software. It weighs the right quantity from the right silo and routes raw materials down one level. We also go one floor down to where Aromat is «born».

Fat and glutamate for extra flavour

We slowly approach a huge metal tank with a capacity of 800 kilogrammes. I peep inside through a small window. Thousands and thousands of Aromat grains dance before my eyes. «We whirl up the components with hot air to prevent them from clumping together,» Daniel Lötscher says.

Then he points to pipes on the ceiling. Salt, lactose and wheat starch are fed from the silos into the tank through these bypasses. A mixture of liquid yeast and flavouring fat flows through another pipe. «The exact composition is our big secret,» Daniel Lötscher says with a serious look on his face. He does reveal, however, that the fat, liquid at first, causes certain aromatic components to stick together. This makes the seasoning coarser and enhances the flavour.

Speaking of flavour, glutamate or yeast extract are used in Aromat to provide that typical umami flavour – the fifth, full-bodied flavour alongside salty, sour, bitter and sweet. Glutamate was controversial for a long time as it was suspected of promoting diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and even cancer. «We didn’t like talking about it in the past. This has changed. Today, we know glutamate is harmless,» Daniel Lötscher states. The latest research (link in German) proves him right. With a balanced diet and consumed in normal quantities (I’ll remember that for later), glutamate poses no health risk.

Nevertheless, reports of people with glutamate intolerance emerge again and again. In some, for example, it seems to trigger headaches. It’s also said to affect the sense of taste, making natural products taste bland. For anyone wanting to avoid glutamate, Knorr produces Aromat with yeast extract.

If only my mum had known…

A childhood without yellow seasoning

I remember that day very clearly. About 20 years ago, I got home from elementary school when she gave me the bad news: «No more Aromat.» I was so shocked I couldn’t speak. Back then, I was downright addicted to the yellow seasoning. One of my favourite things to do was licking pure Aromat off my hand (alternating with Ovomaltine). But there was no changing my mother’s mind, she was convinced the glutamate seasoning was unhealthy. Instead, my mum bought Plantarom without flavour enhancers. After protesting for a while, I got used to it. So much so, in fact, that I didn’t even buy Aromat when I moved into my own flat. Is that about to change?

That typical yellow tinge

Back to the production site in Thayngen: the seasoning mixture in the metal tank in front of me doesn’t look like Aromat yet. No wonder, it’s missing its typical yellow colour. As if on cue, a young man approaches. He’s carrying a 20-kilogramme bag filled with garlic, onions, celery seeds, cloves, bay leaves and turmeric – all in powder form. He carefully pours the contents into the tank. I watch with wide eyes as the turmeric makes the dancing grains turn yellow. I can literally taste it on my tongue… but I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the yellow seasoning has to go another floor down.

Last stop: filling into containers

The filling machine is fast, as little yellow jars are whizzing around us on conveyor belts. 1...2...3... every second, the machine fills all jars, shakes them, weighs them, caps them and gives them a 360° scan for production defects. Finally, it sticks the label on the lid. And the software checks whether jars that aren’t allowed to contain a specific ingredient – celery, for example – really don’t. Once again, this is essential for allergy sufferers. Knorr produces about 50,000 jars of Aromat every day.

Right next door, the food manufacturer uses a similar process to fill over 100,000 packet soups and sauces every day. The difference? The bypass only adds certain ingredients such as onion pieces at this very last stage. «This makes sure they keep their size and shape,» Daniel Lötscher adds. «But surely dried vegetables can’t compete with fresh vegetables?» I ask. Daniel Lötscher agrees that some vitamins are lost during the drying process. However, as he explains, this is also the case with fresh vegetables kept in the fridge (link in German). The nutritional values are written on the bag. «Eaten in moderation, instant soups are healthy», Daniel Lötscher says.

Next, the works director shows me how a machine folds, fills and seals the packets. Knorr is currently working on making soup packaging completely recyclable. But their bestselling product in Switzerland is proving to be a challenge – Fidelisuppe mit Fleischkügeli, a clear soup with pasta and meatballs. «The pasta pokes holes into the new recyclable packaging, they’re so pointy,» Daniel Lötscher says with a grin. The right solution is still in the making.

From pea flour sausage to success story

Other ideas from Knorr weren’t a first-time success either. When Carl Heinrich Knorr opened the Swiss site in Thayngen in 1907, success wasn’t immediate. Knorr’s first invention, the pea flour sausage (Erbswurst), was launched in 1889 at its birthplace in Heilbronn (Germany). It was a dried mixture of pea flour, bacon, onions and spices pressed into casing made of intestines. It’s mixed with water to create an instant pea soup.

Knorr’s real breakthrough only came in the post-war period with packet soup. It was a lifesaver for women of the time. As the economy was at rock bottom, many of them had day jobs. At the same time, it was traditionally the woman’s job to cook dinner. Packet soups made this possible in a quick and easy way. However, I need to mention that even though Knorr (and Maggi at almost the same time) made packet soup popular with the masses, they didn’t invent it.

Knorr’s second major success followed in 1953 – Aromat. That was shortly before Maggi’s Fondor seasoning was launched. For the first time, the Aromat seasoning came in a newly developed shaker can, making it easy to dose. And since Knorr Aromat was given away to restaurants as a table condiment, the Aromat flavour soon spread all over Switzerland.

The triumph of the yellow seasoning hasn’t stopped until today. In fact, quite the opposite. According to Blue News (link in German), when an Aromat shortage hit Switzerland at the beginning of this year, emotions ran high. Seems that Aromat is an integral part of most Swiss kitchens.

Not just a seasoning for amateurs

It goes without saying that Knorr’s own kitchen can’t do without the yellow seasoning. At the Unilever Food Solutions department, a friendly, older gentleman with a moustache is standing behind the cooker. His name is Josef Tschigg and he’s a specialist consultant at Culinary Fachberatung. He previously worked for Baur au Lac and the Swiss Embassy in Washington. In his role working for Knorr, he teaches chefs from all over Switzerland. Among other things, he teaches them how to optimise kitchen processes and refine dishes – using Knorr products, of course.

That’s a surprise to me, as I thought restaurateurs didn’t use Aromat or packet soup. Josef Tschigg laughs and says: «Of course they do. Many chefs use these products as a base or component of a dish. They then add their own personal touch, for example by adding a little coconut milk to the curry soup.»

He did the same for me – he cooked with Aromat. Tschigg scoops creamed spinach from a steaming pan and places an onsen egg on top. He seasons it with some original Aromat. He serves this with garlic bread topped with fresh garlic and garlic Aroma, the latest Knorr product. The main course is spaghetti all’arrabbiata with meatballs, seasoned with chili Aromat – also one of the latest Knorr products.

The onsen egg tastes delicious. Eggs and Aromat are famously a match made in heaven. I can’t taste the garlic Aromat to be honest, as the fresh garlic is unbeatable. The chili Aromat has a pleasant, slight spiciness. Just the way I like it.

In the end? Aromat excess

After I leave the Knorr production facility and board the train in Thayngen, I enjoy the last bit of flavour on my tongue. And I rethink my Aromat consumption. Maybe I could start using it again from time to time. And I could use packet soup every once in a while, together with fresh vegetables. In moderation, of course.

Haha – me, Aromat and moderation. Who am I kidding?

Fast forward a few hours and I’m at home on the sofa with an open jar of Aromat in one hand and a pile of yellow seasoning in the other. «Oh my, isn’t that delicious», I whisper through my parched palate. I’ll save moderation for tomorrow.

What’s your take on Aromat and packet soup? Any childhood memories? I’m looking forward to your comments.