Some of the raw ingredients used are much more expensive. Back in the lab, Kraut goes over his list of more than 20 ingredients already in the flavor he is duplicating. A typical flavor can have 30 to 40 ingredients, DeRovira says. Some have hundreds. When I get to the point where I'm stuck, I ask people what they think.
Flavor is subjective.
So the more people you can get, the better. The subtleties of flavor arise from odors we smell while we eat and drink. But the flavorists always do a little tasting, too. Flavorists have a whole language to describe their creations. At times you'd think they were talking about music, not flavor.