Sensory Solutions

Our Sensory facilities at Rotherham are available for Sensory Testing, Cooking Validation services and Training courses in these fields.

Evaluating the sensory characteristics of a product is a powerful tool which can be called upon to inform decision-making during all stages of a product life cycle (quality control, shelf life, storage and packaging conditions, benchmarking, consumer preferences).

Effective sensory testing is driven by setting clear objectives, developing robust experimental strategy and design, applying appropriate statistical techniques, complying with good ethical practices and delivering mindful data to support decision-making process.

Sensory evaluation can be divided in two categories of testing: objective and subjective. In objective testing, a selected or trained panel assesses the sensory attributes of a product, where subjective testing measures the consumers’ overall preference or acceptance of a product.

These include:

• Descriptive testing is used to identify and describe the nature of the difference or the magnitude of the difference between 2 or more samples
• Discrimination testing is used to determine whether 2 or more samples are perceived as different
• Benchmarking testing compares test sample to a well-liked product. Benchmarking new products alongside the current market players provides information on how well new product should be accepted once placed on the market. It mainly involves consumer testing carried out with a high number of untrained panellists. In addition to consumer testing, descriptive analysis of the new product versus a well-liked competitor product provides useful information on which product attributes that are key drivers of consumers’ acceptance.
• Consumer Testing can be used to determine whether a product will be accepted by consumers or is preferred compared to another. It provides information on the overall acceptability of a product. It is carried out by a high number of untrained consumers to represent the population
• Sensory projects on Food and Consumer Products - For example, if the objective of the project is to determine how well a product is like by consumers then an acceptance test is the correct choice.

The Sensory Evaluation - Foundation level Course course has been accredited by the Institute of Food Science Technology in November 2020 - Attendees will therefore get the opportunity to sit an exam and gain a qualification in Sensory evaluation at foundation level.

Appropriate training is essential to ensure the sensory professional has the necessary technical and interpersonal skills. Our course is providing sensory professionals with an insight of the fundamental principles of sensory sciences.