Results of DESCRIPTION OF STUDY > DATE

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Taste THE ultimate test?

Taste Seminar Jerry Thomas 14th
June 2006
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MSTS background

• Established over 20 years ago
• Specialise in product development in the food and
  drink sector
• Leading sensory research company
• Offer both sensory and consumer research
• Guide manufacturers and retailers in product
  improvement
• Work both in UK and Internationally

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The Product Development Lifecycle
Brand stretch/line extensions/ pack formats
Quality control/bench-marking/product testing/
competitive tracking
MATURITY
GROWTH
Product optimisation
Cost reduction
THE NPD PHASE
DECLINE
Concept/ product development
Product screening
INTRODUCTION
Market map (portfolio opportunities)
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MSTS background

• We bridge the gap to enable our clients to
  really use the results and recommendations
• Research
• Consumer Marketing
• Product development/
• Production

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Top 10 clients of MSTS
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Is TASTE making a comeback?
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Is TASTE making a comeback?

• More discerning and sophisticated consumers
  wanting something new and different
• More fragmentation and segmentation of markets
• Need for differentiation and innovation - me
  toos, own label and shelf space pressure

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(No Transcript)
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Is TASTE making a comeback?

• More discerning and sophisticated consumers
  wanting something new and different
• More fragmentation and segmentation of markets
• Need for differentiation and innovation - me
  toos, own label and shelf space pressure
• Keeping one step ahead of the competition
• Following the trends healthy is driving a
  reduction in some ingredients and the addition of
  others

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How to improve taste

• Important for trial, and vital for repeat
• Need to be careful not to change too much/too
  rapidly
• Fit time and cost objectives (i.e. keep the
  accountants and retailers happy)
• Use external means to guide and assess changes
  (e.g. consumers/sensory panel)

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Why do sensory testing?
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Sensitivity of 3000 Consumers
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Why do sensory testing?

• To identify and profile the attributes in a
  product, covering
• Taste/flavour
• Appearance
• Aroma
• Mouthfeel/texture
• Aftertaste
• Tactile properties
• To establish the key attributes and measure
  differences between products
• Tracking over time competitors and/or QA
• Shelf life testing

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• Sensory Research
• We have approx. 80 sensory panel members and, for
  each project, we select 10-12 of them to assess a
  set of products using the industry standard
  method of QDA (Quantitative Descriptive Analysis)
• Each project consists of
• Vocabulary generation to list all of the sensory
  sensations identified in the products (usually
  40-60 attributes). We encourage our clients to
  attend these sessions to fully understand the
  terms used by our panel.
• Vocabulary rationalisation to determine a list of
  core characteristics with definitions
• Scoring of the products assessed in controlled
  conditions. Products are assessed blind and
  rotated. Each panelist assesses the products
  three time to ensure robustness of scoring

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Mean score profiles Cereal product
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Sensory flavour profiles Cereal Product
  Brand A Brand B Brand C Brand D Brand E Brand F Brand G Brand H Brand I Brand J NPD 1 NPD 2 Brand K Lsd 95 Significance
Flavour Strength 53 51 54 65 49 49 54 51 49 61 52 50 56 6 3
Bran 7 2 7 0 16 1 19 0 6 0 22 4 63 8 3
Wheat 35 19 26 4 17 11 26 12 22 3 27 31 5 10 3
Oat 0 35 30 40 14 0 3 0 34 53 0 8 0 6 3
Corn 11 19 9 27 21 18 15 19 6 1 4 3 0 8 3
Rice 14 5 9 1 2 39 11 40 21 3 22 31 0 9 3
Malty 8 3 11 2 5 3 10 5 4 2 9 4 22 7 3
Toasted 18 7 17 10 12 9 12 8 10 8 31 22 21 7 3
Dried Fruit 29 29 23 0 30 19 29 22 23 0 0 0 0 6 3
Sweet 30 27 26 31 31 27 34 20 21 39 17 15 20 6 3
Sharp/Sour 1 0 0 8 1 1 2 1 1 7 3 2 1 3 3
Tropical Fruit 22 0 0 0 22 13 22 0 9 0 0 0 0 3 3
Salty 7 7 9 9 6 7 8 8 7 7 9 8 10 3 3
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Sensory profile showing key significant sensory
differences between Brand X (client brand) and
Brand Y (market leader)
Brand X has a stronger treacle flavour
note. Brand Y has a more crunchy texture.
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Sensory research

• Pros
• Provides a very detailed blueprint of products
• Shows importance of attributes
• Measures significant differences
• Can explain reasons for consumer liking

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Sensory research

• Pros
• Provides a very detailed blueprint of products
• Shows importance of attributes
• Measures significant differences
• Can explain reasons for consumer liking

• Cons
• Does not reflect consumer liking
• Does not give real guidance alone

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• Consumer Research
• A sample of appropriate respondents are recruited
  (often to a central location)
• Each respondent tries/sniffs, sequentially
  monadically, all of the products in the test
  under controlled conditions
• Order of trial is rotated to avoid bias
• All products are scored on overall opinion,
  taste, aroma and appearance on a 9 point scale
• This data is used to determine the relative
  appeal of each of the products tried

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Overall Opinion
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Consumer research

• Pros
• Shows consumer liking
• Scores basic attributes
• Measures significant differences
• Can show preference

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Consumer research

• Pros
• Shows consumer liking
• Scores basic attributes
• Measures significant differences
• Can show preference

• Cons
• Cannot give real product development guidance
  alone
• Dont know/dont care issue

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Product Optimisation

• Designed to give firm guidance on product
  improvement
• Identifies best in class and what attributes
  drive consumer liking (from combining with
  sensory data)
• Can easily be used by NPD/Product Developers

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Product Optimisation

• Designed to give firm guidance on product
  improvement
• Identifies best in class and what attributes
  drive consumer liking (from combining with
  sensory data)
• Can easily be used by NPD/Product Developers
• Offers an iterative process to reach your target
  product
• Will guide further development for up to 3 years
• Highly cost effective and reliable

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Position of Respondents
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Product Optimisation Sheet
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Taste-based cluster groups - Mayonnaise
Group A 41 respondents Like a certain level of
egg aftertaste and sweet flavour Dislike sweet
aftertaste
Group B 21 respondents Like oily flavour
Brand A
Brand B
Brand C
Group C 22 respondents Like certain level of
rancid flavour and aftertaste Like lemon and
sweet favours Dislike salty flavour and
aftertaste/ smoked cheese and lasting aftertaste
Brand D
Brand E
Brand H
Brand F
Group D 15 respondents Indiscriminate no
strong likes or dislikes
Brand G
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Some new techniques

• Product Development Workshop using a sensory
  panel as consumers to give real guidance to
  developers

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Product Development Workshop
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Some new techniques

• Product Development Workshop using a sensory
  panel as consumers to give real guidance to
  developers
• KidSpeak as above but using 8-12 year olds with
  better than average sensory acuity
• Expert panel getting robust consumer feedback,
  but from a group who can really help the
  development process (i.e. more discerning than
  normal consumers)

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Which group can help you best?

• Sensory panel for real insight into product
  attributes and differences
• Expert panel for consumer liking and feedback on
  improvements
• Included in broad consumer sample for liking
  amongst real target market (pre-launch)

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Sensory/PDW
40-55
Expert/Kids
Normal
30-45
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Summary

• Taste will always be a key driver of liking
• It can always be improved
• Art and science can combine to deliver great
  tasting products (cf. Heston Blumenthal)
• You can all do it too!