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Food product development, sensory evaluation and consumer issues

Market research → idea generation → specification → recipe development and trials → sensory evaluation → modification → costing → scale-up and production planning → packaging and labelling → launch and evaluation.

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Product development stages

Market research → idea generation → specification → recipe development and trials → sensory evaluation → modification → costing → scale-up and production planning → packaging and labelling → launch and evaluation.

Sensory evaluation

  • Tests: preference/hedonic ranking, rating scales, triangle tests (detect differences), paired comparison, profiling (star diagrams).
  • Conditions: controlled lighting, coded samples, water to cleanse the palate, a trained or consumer panel.

Costing and scale-up

Ingredient cost per portion, overheads, labour and profit margin; consistency in large-scale production; standard recipes.

Worked example: A batch of 40 peanut-butter cookies costs US$6.00 in ingredients. Overheads and labour add 50% to cost and the profit margin is 20% of the selling price. Find the selling price per cookie.

Cost per cookie = 6.00 ÷ 40 = 0.15; with overheads 0.15 × 1.5 = 0.225

Selling price = 0.225 ÷ 0.80 = US$0.28

Labelling and consumer protection

Labels show name, ingredients in descending order of weight, allergens, net quantity, date marks, storage, manufacturer and nutrition information. The Consumer Protection Act and food standards legislation protect consumers.

Consumer trends

Convenience foods, healthy and functional foods, traditional and indigenous foods (small grains, baobab, mopane worms), plant-based foods, sustainability and reducing food waste.

Exam tip: When designing a product, link every decision back to the specification and the target consumer.

Check yourself

  1. What is a triangle test?
  2. Why are ingredients listed in descending order on labels?
  3. Give two current trends in food consumption.
Show answers
  1. Tasters receive three samples, two identical, and must identify the odd one – used to detect differences.
  2. So consumers can see which ingredients make up the largest proportions of the product.
  3. Any two: convenience, health/functional foods, indigenous foods, plant-based diets, sustainability.
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