Alternate Vendor Qualification

Consumers crave consistency. If they happen upon a food item they like, they’ll buy it time and again. The challenge for product designers is to meet consumer expectations by formulating products that taste, feel and look the same every time. Substituting even a single ingredient could send previously loyal customers searching for a new product to love.

It’s best, then, to find more than one way to create a single product. Alternate vendor qualification, a service offered by 21st Sensory, helps food R&D professionals deliver consistent products by finding exact matches for ingredients.

“If you have only one vendor, he pretty much can dictate what you will pay for his product,” says Lauri Rottmayer, marketing director. “Or, if your supplier runs out of your particular ingredient or item, then you are simply stuck with consumers who want what you can’t deliver. There are many reasons why it’s better to have more options to choose from.”

The company can provide valuable information when searching for alternate vendors. “By doing a sensory profile of the current item, alternate items can be evaluated and then compared,” Rottmayer says. “If they are not a match, the data is useful in reformulating the product to an exact match. Alternatively, if an alternate source of an ingredient is being considered, the R&D professional cannot be sure that the new ingredient will not change the formulation in a noticeable way. A descriptive panel can evaluate both items and show the differences and similarities in the product containing the new ingredient.”

The primary tool for alternate vendor qualification is descriptive sensory analysis. “Simply put, descriptive sensory analysis is the process where certain attributes of a product are identified and measured, and the data analyzed and interpreted,” Rottmayer says. Typically, for clients seeking to qualify alternate vendors, a consensus panel of six trained, experienced analysts begins by screening a product to identify its attributes. These attributes then go on a ballot. Samples are served, tested and reviewed for each attribute by each panelist.

“The samples are served to the panelists with three-digit random numbers to protect identity and eliminate bias,” Rottmayer says. “And although each panelist ballots independently, the number that is recorded is agreed upon by all. Once the evaluation of the product is done, the data generated is compiled by the panel leader and presented to the client in a report with discussion, charts and comments.” The company also offers a full descriptive panel if a client wants statistics.

In the end, clients know whether “a consumer would notice the difference in the two products, either on subsequent visits or purchases, or even in a side-by-side test,” Rottmayer says. Armed with this knowledge, food designers can be confident they are giving their customers exactly what they want.

21st Sensory, Inc.
512C SE Washington Boulevard 
Bartlesville, OK 74006 
Phone: 918/333-1011 
Fax: 918/333-7773 
E-mail: [email protected] 
Website: www.21stsensory.com