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Sensory: An essential element in the product development process |
M. H. GILLETTE, McCormick & Co., Inc., 204 Wight Ave., Hunt Valley, MD 21031 The sensory function in the food industry has evolved from a reactive technical service to a driving leadership position on product development teams. Today, product development is strategically guided by their sensory team members, who provide consumer preferred direction and validation. In the McCormick model, the three functions of Product Development, Sensory and Culinary work seamlessly to create delicious foods, which are consumer validated by the sensory function and made cost effective and safe by the food scientists. No single product development function can create great products without the contribution of the others. The culinarians begin the process by creating commercial prototypes, which the sensory function screens for fit to the concept and to the consumer. Product development scientists reformulate these systems into fully commercialized formulas. The most powerful member of this protocol is the consumer, who clearly directs both the chef and the food scientist. Once a product is finalized, sensory plays an essential role in monitoring scale-up, monitoring process changes, cost reductions, product improvements and shelf life testing. Sensory has become critical for pointing the way to new product success. This presentation will describe the McCormick consumer-preferred model for product development along with some case studies.
Session 39, Using sensory science to make actionable business decisions
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