The Science of Taste: How Delicious Gifts Can Make You Memorable

Corporate gift giving has a long tradition in food: premium nuts roasted to a caramelized crunch, hand-crafted chocolates rich with fillings, fine wines lush with the sweet tastes of summer. These treats are feasts for the senses that — whether we realize it or not— leave calling cards in our brains. 

Because of how deeply our senses are intertwined with memory, gifts that deliver delicious flavors or smells are meaningful ways of reaching out to others—especially in the world of business partnerships and client retention. 

The Science of Taste and Memory

Taste triggers memory. We know it’s true, but why is it such a powerful reaction? In The Omnivorous Mind: Our Evolving Relationship With Food, published by Harvard Press, John S. Allen explains that as human beings, we’re essentially hardwired to link food and memory through both nature and nurture.

The Nature Connection

Our brains are designed to absorb experiences through the senses and then record them as memories. Much of this happens in the hippocampus, a part of our limbic system that deals with emotions, memory and emotional processing.

While the hippocampus is our most basic structure for forming memories and recalling them, it’s also responsible for the spatial memory we count on—knowing where things are, where we are and how to navigate. Essentially, the hippocampus helps us organize and remember our world so that we can survive, and since food is so vital, it qualifies as a significant memory to record.

In addition to handling memory and emotion, the hippocampus is also associated with our digestive system and has receptors for hormones like insulin, for example, leptin and ghrelin—hormones that regulate our energy supply, let us know that we’re satisfied or alert us that we’re hungry.

Interestingly, in addition to the hippocampus, the limbic system also includes the olfactory bulb, responsible for our sense of smell, as well as the amygdala, critical to attaching emotional value to memories and sensory experiences.

To make the relationship even a bit more interesting, when we eat something we really like, our brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that lights up our brain’s reward centers and turns what might otherwise be a short-term memory into a long-term one.

With all of these structures and functions in one area of our brain and working together, it’s little wonder that memory and taste—and even smell and emotion—are so closely entwined with one another.

The Nurture Component

Our palates develop over time, blending our personal preferences and the way our family and friends eat with the foods that our culture encourages. A big part of this stems from how we tie food to special occasions as a celebration marking a point in time—birthdays, holidays and vacations, for example.

We recognize moments of significance with the sharing of food—everything from potlucks and picnics to birthday cake or homemade beignets made together that day. With food so essential to our survival and our relationships within a community, its very presence in any given situation becomes meaningful.

In this way, many of our food experiences live as long term memories, and thanks to conventions and culture, they’re likely to be repeated. Ultimately, through both nature and nurture elements, food not only retrieves old memories but also creates new ones. 

Making Tasteful Memories With Corporate Gift Giving

Food holds potential to be a powerful connector between people—especially if it can evoke feelings that are unique. That’s why—even without the scientific data—we simply know that a personalized tin of melt-in-your-mouth gourmet cookies will be more memorable than just another pen or mug. 

Link your gift of deliciousness with a significant date, accomplishment, holiday or anniversary—how many years you’ve been doing business together, for example, or the week prior to a trade show where you always see one another—and it becomes a reassuring touchstone of mutual respect that they may even look forward to receiving.

“Emotion and novelty tend to make events more memorable, and those tied in some way with food may make for even more powerful memories.”

John S. Allen

In business, staying in touch and communicating with authenticity are everything, yet we’re not always able to hop on a plane to have lunch or make every meeting. That’s when a simple gesture can speak volumes, and science says that food give our message longevity.

Gifts of taste let you connect with one person, several people or an entire network and let those individuals know that you’re thinking of them. Corporate gift giving can play equally important roles in creating or solidifying partnerships, showing employee appreciation or strengthening client retention. 

Tasteful Gifts Start Here

Whether it’s for a special occasion, a job well done or a celebration for another successful year, food lets you go as small or as large as you want while staying authentic and memorable at the same time. 

At Cane River Pecan Company, we specialize in delicious pecan gifts that recipients look forward to all year long. If you’re looking for something unique to keep your name top of mind, explore our collection of pecan tins, gift boxes and specialty treats. You’re sure to find a perfect pick they won’t soon forget.

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