Sensorik-Marketing für Biolebensmittel

Sensorische Eigenschaften von Lebensmitteln sind wichtige marktrelevante Faktoren - auch für Bioprodukte. Aufgrund gesetzlicher Regelungen und Vorschriften europäischer Anbau- und Herstellerverbände ergeben sich auch im Hinblick auf die sensorischen Eigenschaften teilweise erhebliche Unterschiede zu konventionellen Produkten

Wie beliebt sind Bio-Erdbeer-Joghurts?

Ziel und Zweck des EU-Forschungsprojekts Ecropolis ist es, dem Geschmack von Biolebensmitteln mit wissenschaftlichen Methoden auf den Grund zu gehen - so zum Beispiel bei Schweizer Erdbeerjoghurts

Identification of sensory core factors to optimize product quality and customer satisfaction

"Being focused on the essential" or "reduce to the max" - this attitude, which is not only lived in the Asian culture, is also finding more and more followers in the Western world. The recently experienced lockdown has disruptively promoted the focus on the essentials in our society’s life, even possibly in a sustainable way. Would it not simplify the development process of a product such as questions about "Which product characteristics, which expectations of effectiveness really exist through the target group?", the marketing and advertising concept "Which "wording" is understood and expected by the target group?”. Wouldn't it be enormously time- and resource-saving if you could only concentrate on the essentials? Noriaki Kano of the University of Tokyo also asked himself this question in the 1990s and published his findings in 1984 in the Journal of Japanese Society for Quality Control. Customers’ expectations are changing - which product features must be adapted to their needs; which features are particularly important? What does it mean for the sensory properties of a care product and is there a kind of hierarchy in the expectations of the individual attributes? With which sensory methods could the three categories of customer satisfaction described by Kano ("must-be", "one-dimensional", "attractive") be identified and assigned accordingly? One possibility is to compare descriptive product profiling by trained panelists with the overall acceptance by the consumer target group. According to MacFie an external preference map is created ("PREFMAP" method). For the target group, a CATA questionnaire was combined with a preference test. The consumers were able to indicate sensory product characteristics by means of five Just-about-right (JAR) questions or 11 sensory and additionally 17 emotional/qualitative Check-all-that-Apply (CATA) questions. After statistical analysis (XLStats 2019) data were assigned to the above mentioned three categories of customer satisfaction according to the Kano model. The category "attractive" can lead to a surprising "wow-effect" for the consumer. Here, sensory correlated "refreshing", "silky-smooth" and were translated qualitatively and emotionally as "premium", "activating" and "feminine". The Kano model meaningfully complements the CATA and penalty analyses (JAR) in this feasibility study

Organic taste of yoghurt : Sensory insights out of the EC-project ECROPOLIS

Distributors and promoters of organic food claim superior tastes for their products compared to the conventional alternative. This argument however is still subject to a hard debate and thus deserves more scientific evidence. Since repurchases are dependent on the overall liking of a product and sensory experiences may have an important impact, knowledge about these dimensions is crucial for producers and marketers of organic food to offer products which meet consumer expectations. Besides other important aspects, sensory properties as well as consumer acceptance of six different product groups (dairy-, meat-, bakery- and tomato-products, vegetable oil and apples) were analysed in detail within the EU funded project ECROPOLIS (www.ecropolis.eu) in six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, The Netherlands). In order to explain how the scientific approach of the project helps to explore product insights, dairy products represented by “natural (plain) full cram yoghurts” were chosen as an example. On the one side results of the detailed analysis are capable to show relevant information concerning sensory product properties (sensory profiles) of plain yoghurts as well as the influence of these aspects on the product popularity by the consumer (acceptance and preference mapping). Additionally results show how the regulatory framework respectively the requirements for plain yoghurts produced under organic regulation influences the sensory appearance of the products. And results show as well the product improvement potential of organically produced plain yogurts. Some consolidated key-insights from the results out of six European countries: Sensory differences between organic and conventional products depend more on production technology (stirred or semisolid) and regulatory framework (application of milk powder, homogenisation of milk) than on the organic or conventional origin of raw material. For example semi-solid yoghurts in some countries are less accepted and yoghurts that additionally are produced without application of milk powder all show a certain sedimentation of whey and are even less accepted. Disregarding the aspect of “organic” and “conventional”, the acceptance towards plain yoghurt seems to be more or less dependent on certain sensory attributes as there are especially creaminess, smoothness (both texture) and a moderate and balanced sourness (taste). And the presence of liquid on the surface is often not liked. Consumers respond differently in the six European countries concerning the labelling (halo) effect of organic and conventional, meaning that consumer from some countries (e.g. Germany, …) are more influenced by the declaration of “organic” and “conventional” when tasting the products than others (e.g. Switzerland). German consumerses assumes better sensory quality in “healty, fair-traide etc. products

Sensory marketing for the organic market : key insights from the EU funded project ECROPOLIS

none13The organic food sector in Europe is growing since several years. However the development of the organic food market varies across European countries. High developed markets (e.g. Germany and Switzerland) coexist with markets in the introduction stage (e.g. Poland). Sensory marketing strategies are not well implemented in the organic sector although this market segment is built on consumers with clear preferences for differentiated sensory properties. Sensory attributes are an important element of organic marketing and a possible tool to create a unique value proposition. The EC funded project Ecropolis investigated the organic market in six European countries (Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, Italy, France and Switzerland). Based on its results the OSIS database was developed and made available on the website. The main results of Ecropolis are summarized for different target groups on different levels: On level 1 a short summary addressed to consumers, retailers and SMEs in English, German, Italian, French, Dutch and Polish is available for different product groups. A concise overview about specific sensory characteristics for the chosen product groups in the six countries is provided, together with information about consumer habits and sensory marketing for those product groups. OSIS offers a sensory journey through the participating countries to learn about country specific preferences. On level 2 more specific guidance for the practical implementation of sensory marketing and sensory analyses in the companies is worked out in form of fact sheets addressed to retailers, SME and SME associations also available in 6 languages. On level 3 all public research reports are available for the interested audience. OSIS is a unique tool that provides support with ready to use information for various questions that occur in organic food production, marketing and communication. Next to OSIS all the Ecropolis project results and dissemination activities are available on the website www.ecropolis.org.mixedM.-L. Cezanne; L. Baumgart; A. Bongartz; K. Buchecker; M. Canavari; T. Gallina Toschi; A. Kole; E. Kostyra; S. Kremer; P. Reichl; A. Spiller; S. Zakowska-Biemans; U. Kretzschmar-Rüger et al.M.-L. Cezanne; L. Baumgart; A. Bongartz; K. Buchecker; M. Canavari; T. Gallina Toschi; A. Kole; E. Kostyra; S. Kremer; P. Reichl; A. Spiller; S. Zakowska-Biemans; U. Kretzschmar-Rüger et al