Tasteful Research

Within the past few years, identification of receptors for sweet, bitter and umami (savory) tastes have led to new insights regarding how taste functions. This could lead to ways to manipulate the perception of taste in order to fool the mouth into the perception that something sour, such as some medicines or health products, tastes sweet.

Contrary to popular understanding, taste is not experienced on different parts of the tongue. Though there are small differences in sensation, which can be measured with highly specific instruments, all taste buds, essentially clusters of 50 to 100 cells, can respond to all types of taste.

Taste reactions have important purposes that go beyond “tasty” or “yucky”. Pleasurable emotional responses like the comforting feeling of certain foods are as important as the critical life-dependent response that causes a person to spit out a bitter potential toxin.

Author Paul A S Breslin, a sensory research scientist at the Monell Center, explained: "For all mammals, the collective influence of taste over a lifetime has a huge impact on pleasure, health, well-being, and disease. Taste's importance to our daily lives is self-evident in its metaphors - for example: the 'sweetness' of welcoming a newborn child, the 'bitterness' of defeat, the 'souring' of a relationship, and describing a truly good human as the 'salt' of the earth."

Over time, consumers develop a set of cues that we then use to make inferences about products, but this set of beliefs can also make it difficult for people to learn and recognize other real, positive qualities that are indicated by the same cues, reveals a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Sensory research weighs the physiological as well as the psychological and emotional responses in order to provide the information you need to make your product a success.

Do Organic Foods Taste Better?

A number of food research studies have asked this question, and most have found that it has a lot to do with the preconceived notions of those tasting the product, and ultimately, the ability to taste before buying.

In 2002, a research study found that organic orange juice was perceived as tasting better than conventional orange juice, but no differences were found between organic and conventional milk.

The State of the Science Review asked in 2006, “Do organic fruits and vegetables taste better than conventional fruits and vegetables?”. After reviewing the existing literature, they found that most studies reported “no consistent or significant differences in taste.” But when studies did report differences, the preference was for the organic produce.

Then, in 2007 a sensory research study was done about organic meats using pork as a basis. They found that overall, participants had a positive association with the terms “organic” and “natural,” associating “all-natural” with animal welfare, higher quality feed, and a lack of preservatives or chemicals.

But interestingly, participants had different preconceived notions of how all-natural food would taste compared to its nutriton panel. Group one in the taste test associated good flavor and texture with the all-natural product, but group two associated the leaner and less flavorful sample with the all-natural product, probably assuming if it’s good for you , it can’t possibly taste good too. Still, the majority of participants said they were willing to pay more for the all-natural pork once they had tasted it.

Sensory Research offers valuable insights for food companies, allowing them to discover just how to market their products for the best possible success.

Packaging Offers Tactile and Sound cues

Touch
Interesting and differently shaped packages can act as both visual and tactile cues, inviting shoppers to reach out and touch the package at their Food Retailers. And once a consumer has the product in his or her hands, the likelihood of them then putting it into their basket increases exponentially.
Embossing or other printing techniques can be used on any surface, etching or 3D-designs on glass bottles or jars, rough finishes on paperboard packaging, or molded plastic containers are a few ways food packagers can incorporate texture.

Sound
Sound cues like the pop of a seal as it breaks, or the click of a closure snapping shut, can enhance the user’s experience of the product.

Belinda Winder, consumer psychologist and senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England says, “We’re playful, curious creatures. We like to make sounds, and we like feedback, so if you can incorporate a sound into a package, consumers will respond”.
Package sounds can be powerful mood stimulators. A classic is the pop of a champagne cork. Another is the opening sound of a beverage-can pull ring. “There’s a feeling that goes with that,” Winder says. “Poof! I’m going to get my drink now. The moment of relaxation has started with that sound.”

The significance of a sound sometimes becomes apparent only after a packaging change, as in the case of the peanut marketer that switched from a steel can to a composite can a few years ago. The steel can made a whooshing sound when opened, and research revealed that consumers heard the whoosh as a freshness cue. After making the switch for cost reasons, the brand’s sales dove, and though they can’t prove it, they suspect the loss of the whooshing sound had something to do with it.

Sensory Research pays!

Packaging Shapes Offer Subconscious Connection

Continuing from our previous post, we can expand upon the effects of packaging.

food research and development have shown that shoppers make more than two-thirds of their buying decisions at the Food Retailers itself, which means that packaging is likely the determining factor in sales. When the shape of the package distinguishes it from other products and reinforces what the product promises to deliver, there is a better chance of the product moving from the shelf to the shopping cart.

Shape communicates instantly - no reading required - and it helps to create memorable and recognizable branding. Using curves, sharp edges, slopes, tapers, panels, ridges, etc., packages can non-verbally communicate the desired brand imagery.

Anthropomorphism, or package shapes that mimic the appearance of people, connects with the unconscious mind of the customers. A great example is a product that’s no longer available in this packaging, but lives on in the memories of the boomer generation, is the Aunt Jemima Syrup bottle. The package depicted the brand’s namesake, right down to her facial features, in amber glass with a yellow screw top. If you can picture that bottle, you know its effect on you.

Recent examples in this food research include Crosse & Blackwell’s Waistline foods in the U.K., who reinforce their weight-control message with a distinctive hourglass-shaped can; Kellogg’s Smart Start cereal box is not as thick as others, emphasizing the idea that the product helps the customer be slim; and Tab Energy, a Coca-Cola low-calorie energy drink for women, is tall and slender compared with standard soda cans. (And it is actually smaller, holding 10.5 oz. rather than 12 oz.).

Sensory Research helps to ensure that every possible aspect is taken into account to create success for your product.

Visual Cues – The Influence of Labels on Taste Perception

In our previous post, we mentioned a sensory research study that showed that test subjects were more influenced by the appearance of a brand label than they were by the actual taste of the product. This indicates another level of visual cue beyond the color and appearance of the food itself that affects people’s preference.

Some marketers would say that color is the most important of all the visual cues a package incorporates. Consumers have only seconds to make a purchasing decision in the supermarket, and color registers much faster than text or complex graphics.

Colors trigger psychological connections to emotional states, so they need to make the right connection for the product and the brand. You’ll notice that in some parts of the grocery store, like the cereal or the candy aisles, the colors on the packages are bright and bold, conveying a sense of energy and fun. But products designed for a more sophisticated consumer, such as wine and gourmet items, dipping oils and tapenades, need to appeal on a different level, with colors that convey flavor and distinction.

Package color is influenced by food trends, as well. Though historically, green was rarely used on food packaging, (perhaps because of an association with mold?), it has become a popular color for products that want to reflect a healthy or environmentally friendly message. Blue is still used mainly for milk and water.

Additional visual cues include other graphic design elements such as typefaces, logos and illustrations or photos. These components combine to communicate the brand’s image, and do so even more within the completed design.

Finding the right food consultants means gaining a teammate and a valuable food business resource to help make sure that all of these factors are taken into account with your product.

Tasting with your Eyes

“For thousands of years human beings have relied on visual cues to help determine what is edible. The color of fruit suggests whether it is ripe, the color of meat whether it is rancid.”
-Excerpt taken from Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation

According to nutritionists and the nutrition panel, naturally color-vibrant foods serve an important role in keeping us healthy and even reducing cancer risks. Antioxidants and phytochemicals, which are found in fruits in vegetables, have been noted to significantly reduce cancer risks. Beta carotine and lycopene can help protect cells from damage.

But color may have a greater influence on our perception than that. In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research entitled, “Taste Perception: More than Meets the Tongue,” it showed that though brand name influenced people's preferences for one cup of juice over another, labeling one cup a premium brand and the other an inexpensive store brand had no effect on perceptions of taste. What did make a difference was the tint of the orange juice.

Given two cups of the same Tropicana orange juice, with one cup darkened with food coloring, the members of the researcher's sample group perceived differences in taste that did not exist. However, when given two cups of orange juice that were the same color, with one cup sweetened with sugar, the same people failed to perceive taste differences.

As the authors put it: "Color dominated taste."

Eric Schlosser talks about another color experiment in his book Fast Food Nation. “During one experiment in the early 1970s people were served an oddly tinted meal of steak and french fries that appeared normal beneath colored lights. Everyone thought the meal tasted fine until the lighting was changed. Once it became apparent that the steak was actually blue and the fries were green, some people became ill.”

This is why Sensory Research is so much more than simply taste testing, and why it is vital for any successful food business.

Testing Aroma and Taste Perception

Our perception of how something tastes is actually a combination of flavor, aroma and texture. But aromas not only enhance flavor, they can also enhance mood. Scientists as early as the 1920s noticed mood-enhancing effects from aromas such as cinnamon and clove. Then in 2005 two scientists presented psycho-physical, neuro-imaging and neurophysiological studies showing that odor and taste are indeed "functionally united [while] anatomically separated."

In an article on Food Processing.com, Jeffrey Kondo, vice president of product innovation for Dairy Management Inc./DMI, tells us that"Sensory analysis is a critical step in innovation to give consumers the products they want, where, when and how they want them". DMI supports a pilot sensory lab at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C.

"There are many modern instruments designed for sensory analysis, but nothing matches the human instrument for its complexity, intensity and sophistication of detection,” explains MaryAnne Drake, an Associate Professor of Sensory and Flavor Chemistry in the University’s Department of Food Science. “Sensory research is critical. Knowledge of consumer desires and perceptions and the sensory properties of existing competitor products can influence the breadth, depth and success of a product line."

"The key for companies considering sensory testing is, what specific questions are you trying to answer? Do you want to understand the impact of substituting a new ingredient? Would you like to know how your product stacks up against a competitor’s products? Different questions require different kinds of sensory testing, different objectives and different timelines," Drake adds.

Aroma and taste are inseparable qualities of food. You cannot ignore one while relying on the other to sell your product. Knowing that the most sophisticated instrument for detecting aromas is the human nose, and ultimately the customers we want to please are the very same humans, sensory research makes complete sense as an investment for your food business.

Why Use Sensory Research?

Sensory research can provide essential insight into the reaction of consumers about any type of food product. There are generally three types of testing:

• Effective testing — a comparison of facts (objective data) between two or more products — generally requires a trained panel.

• Affective, or consumer testing — gathers opinions (subjective data) from large numbers of untrained, prospective consumers. Smaller focus groups may also be used in consumer testing.

• Perception testing — using biochemical and psychological theories to explain sensory preferences.

Applying modern statistical analysis to the data gathered by different forms of testing offers a wealth of information about consumer behavior and the potential acceptance or rejection of products.

Sensory research, evaluation and analysis are in high demand, for their use of scientific discipline employing a number of tools that are usually considered subjective and difficult to interpret--especially the human senses--taste, texture, mouth feel, aroma, appearance-- all are scored on a numerical scale to generate data for statistical analysis.

The objective is to evaluate consumer products in an unbiased manner in order to gain insight about how your product will be accepted by your target audience, the ones who’ll make it or break it.

Recently Food Processing.com asked Marino Trevola about his use of sensory research as Project Leader for Food R&D at Alberto-Culver Co., the makers of Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning. “It’s the best way to find out how well a new idea will be received,” he said. According to Trevola, data gathered from sensory research is essential not only to the development of new products, but also to the successful extension of a well-established line.

No food business owner can afford to be wrong when creating a new product. It pays to gather unbiased data in the form of sensory research.

Taste Preference Linked To Early Childhood Food Experiences And Specific Human Gene

In a recent food research study from the University of Birmingham in England it was found that babies that were weaned onto certain types or colors of foods tend to want those foods in the future.

Parents of children will likely attest to the fact that children will often reject foods, without even a taste test, when they look unfamiliar. The studies show that babies need to be exposed to a wide array of foods in the formative years. Including fruits and vegetables are a must as they will increase their taste appeal in the future, which will result in a overall healthier lifestyle.

According to Dr. Gillian Harris, a clinical psychologist at the University of Birmingham, "Where possible, parents should give their children the same food that they are eating provided it is a balanced diet containing fruit and vegetables, to introduce them to new colours, textures and shapes."

Taste is the most important factor in the global food industry and food trends. Scientists now believe that how an individual perceives taste comes down to a single gene. According to Paul Breslin at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, "Our paper shows that a single gene codes for multiple forms of a taste receptor, with each form having a differing sensitivity to taste compounds." Understanding how the specific gene works could provide certain advantages in the food industry.

Putting the gene pool debate aside, different people have different taste preferences. Some people enjoy sweet, while others prefer salt sodium taste or bitter tasting foods. Sensory Research and an experienced food consultant will help your business find what food items consumers are truly interesting in receiving.

What is Sensory Research?

Sensory Research involves testing the affects of products on the five senses. For a food business consultancy, you might think that this means simply giving “taste tests”. While this is an integral part of the process, you may be surprised to discover just how much power the remaining four senses have when one is determining whether or not a product or dish appeals to them.

Sight
Taste perception can be affected by differences in appearance—including the color and the presence of a brand label. Presentation is also important—if something is just slopped on a plate, it will seem much less appetizing than something with garnish and a sense of design. Color psychologists have found that there are even color preferences that run along cultural and demographic lines.

Scent
Scent and taste are very closely linked physiologically. If something smells good, you will expect that it will taste good, even before it reaches your mouth. But if there is an unpleasant smell, it will taint the taste experience. Scent also evokes emotions and memories, which can be useful in marketing and branding a signature dish or style.

Touch
In the context of food business research, this mostly has to do with the texture of a food, which has a huge affect on how much the dish will be liked. But tactile sensations can be extended into the space a restaurant will occupy as well.

Sound
Music played in restaurants creates a mood, as does the music used in advertising on television and radio. It can also have an affect on test subjects during sensory research.

Be sure to choose a consultant with industry experience who can work in conjunction with your brand image for targeted culinary product development.