Communicating Sensory Information to R&D

February 2005

Communicating Sensory Information to R&D

By Nancy C. RodriguezContributing Editor

Communication is much more complex than converting information and analyses to Word or PowerPoint in a shiny folder. A well-designed, executed and analyzed descriptive sensory report that ends up as just another report on a shelf is a wasteful investment.

Can you hear me now? Communication is a process. Following a classical model, the "sender" (sensory group) translates sensory information into a format, with findings and/or statistics, analyses and recommendations that will convey the message. The message is channeled to the "receiver" (client) via a printed report, e-mailed document or personal presentation. The receiver decodes the message to comprehend the content and meaning, using tools such as a sensory lexicon and reference standards. The receiver then provides feedback that tells the sender group how the message is understood and whether or not it fits the client's needs and expectations. The receiver thus becomes the sender, and the communication process continues. If information gets stuck at any point, communication does not take place.

Sensory studies, no matter how well designed, executed, analyzed or presented, are only meaningful if they respond to what the client needs and wants. That said, the communication process described above begins by making sure that the sensory group and client agree on the overall strategy and project objectives. At the outset, sensory planners must ask how information will be used, creating a variety of scenarios for clarification. A client might say, for instance, that they want to know how their low-fat alternative vanilla ice cream compares to a full-fat gold standard. That might not be the right comparison for a budget-priced product. The sensory group must probe the client to determine the end use of sensory testing. Sales claims? Product refinement? Product optimization? Ingredient substitution?

If sensory is used in a Stage-Gate® process, which sets go/kill decision points to cull out mediocre projects, sensory objectives must be spelled out (determination of difference, amount of change, acceptability, matching, etc.) to accomplish the predetermined outputs and keep the job moving forward. Learning curves related to developing good communication might exist between a sensory source and client recipient.

Eight years ago, Food Marketing Support Services (FMSS), Oak Park, IL, began working with American Pop Corn Company, Sioux City, IA, makers of Jolly Time® microwave popcorn. "Movie theater popcorn was just hitting the market, and we wanted to be a player," says President Garry Smith. "We had the concept for a double-butter product."

Tom Elsen, Jolly Time's vice president of marketing, continues: "We started with something broad, then the name, 'Blast O Butter®,' narrowed the product definition. FMSS helped us deliver on the promise of the name -- not only the flavor, but the sensory points in the mouth and the aroma."

In the past, much of the company's innovation and development was based on gut reactions. Elsen and Smith worked with our sensory and technical scientists to reinvent their product and maintain quality in a very competitive category. Sensory input was essential in the development of their reduced-fat products. When customers complained about a lingering aroma in their microwaves from one of the company's products, sensory scientists pinpointed and described notes that helped ingredient suppliers solve the problem. Technical problems halted development on another project, but a well-defined marshmallow flavor survived and now stars in Mallow Magic(TM) microwave popcorn. The company now uses sensory standards to screen incoming raw materials. FMSS and Jolly Time have kept the lines open for continued conversation, sensory-profile development and feedback.

The language of the lexicon In addition to being an integral part of descriptive sensory testing, lexicons are the best-known and most widely used communication tools for food product developers. Lexicons provide a common written and oral language that facilitates precise communication about sensory modalities among all players in a product-development project, from sensory analysts, technicians and R&D to ingredient suppliers, market researchers, sales and marketing -- and eventually consumers. Each sensory modality contains descriptive attributes. Attribute properties are demonstrated by physical product standards that reflect the "scaling space" or intensity range spectrum.

Many companies develop lexicons for their own products. They may also use "universal" lexicons, such as Gail V. Civille and Brenda G. Lyon's "Aroma and Flavor Lexicon for Sensory Evaluation," published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). This lexicon includes several hundred food categories and can be updated and expanded to include particular products. USDA publishes lexicons, as do trade associations (e.g., cheese and dairy) and ingredient suppliers. A new product category might warrant its own lexicon, building on what has gone before.

Kim Till, sensory panel manger at Kellogg's, Battle Creek, MI, draws on the ASTM lexicon as a base reference, adding her own terms to the database. "We make a concerted effort to get everyone -- including outside sensory panels, suppliers, new hires -- on the same page," she says. She warns that some lexicon descriptions sound negative, like "diesel oil" or "alcohol taste in chocolate." All descriptors, even "baby spit up," are useful to flavor chemists if they convey the flavor and aroma. Terms refer to perception, not ingredients. Thus, something may have a green-onion note, but contain no onion.

For descriptive sensory panelists, lexicons are memory banks containing hundreds of descriptions. To jog the memory or educate a novice, each descriptor has a reference. Descriptive panelists constantly hone their analytical abilities using reference standards, precise language and optimized evaluation protocols.

Lexicons are attached to sensory reports, along with references, to convey precise findings and actionable steps to R&D. This is especially helpful in differentiating flavor and aroma attributes. Descriptive sensory reports and lexicons help research scientists follow sensory guidelines and select ingredients that accomplish desired goals. Recommendations for ingredients that carry primary flavor in a product are best if the descriptive sensory panel provides nuanced, rather than bundled, descriptors -- not the world of cinnamon, but the type, source and intensity of the cinnamon. If R&D can't find a recommended ingredient from a certified supplier, they can go back to the sensory scientists for scientific and technical direction.

Liz Suter, research scientist for Barilla of America, Northbrook, IL, initiated a program to teach sensory communications as a way to improve the development process and cut down on development time. In a recent exercise, Catherine Zenner, senior research and development chef, was intrigued by a grape reference for a particular kind of sweet flavor, along with the directive to chew on the grape stalk to experience a "viney" sensation. Suter is also creating a lexicon of Barilla's current products for use in self-stability studies. Sensory language is a sensitive means of communication for Suter and Zenner and the resident Italian chef whose goal is to create signature products acceptable to American palates.

Cross-cultural product development and evaluation has its own communication challenges. Till gives this example: "If Nutri-Grain® bars developed for Latin America are profiled here, texture ranges are expected to have different norms or acceptable values. Coloration of products is also a huge factor." Lexicons are adapted and combined to form profiles that reflect global product versions.

R&D and communications In high-profile projects of major food companies, a multidisciplinary steering team, including sensory specialists, works out any details and objectives. Up-front sensory input on consumer liking and product category opportunities keep the project on target, reducing both time to market and cost. Throughout the process, opportunities for face-to-face channeling of information exist among members of the team and with consumers. Before taking models to consumer panels, for instance, R&D might host steering-team prototype presentations. Team members may observe or interact with consumers in focus groups and discuss the findings in relation to next steps.

Unlike the steering-team approach to product design, it's not unusual for marketing to approach R&D to jointly come up with ideas that become prototypes, says Toni Armando, FMSS vice president of technology and a long-time R&D practitioner. "There's typically no time to figure out where the opportunities lie in the current product category, and minimal analysis of consumer liking," she points out. Sometimes, R&D asks for internal sensory evaluation of prototypes before they're presented, which are then "fixed" by trial and error.

By contrast, Armando lays out the value of up-front sensory input. "Let's say that marketing wants soup. A descriptive sensory group can provide actionable steps, linked with consumer liking analyses, that spell out how much broth to vegetables consumers want and what size they want the vegetables to be. Oregano is not just 'oregano,' but a specific type of oregano. There are mouthfeel, color and aroma, too -- sometimes even specific ingredient specs. R&D starts with a blueprint with links directly to ingredients that satisfy consumer liking."

Sensory guidance can effectively reveal desired product attributes during development. For example, 14 people were recently seated around a table for a presentation of platform prototypes. Half the group was from FMSS, the other half from a client. Our team included sensory scientists, product development scientists and technicians, our corporate chef, and creatives. On the client side, there were R&D personnel, a consumer research specialist and the brand's marketing manager and business manager. Photos, clippings and keywords captured findings of a targeted culture and trends survey on large display boards that stood along the walls of the room.

We began with a presentation I called "Sensory Model Guidance." This featured descriptive sensory profiles of our target consumers' flavor and texture preferences. We'd screened favorite foods in several categories, uncovered sensory themes and patterns, and pinpointed flavor and texture intensity levels across the array. This information was then married to what was on the display boards, in a process we call "Reality Ideation(TM)," to come up with concepts that could be transitioned into prototypes.

The clients were quite taken with the novel prototype forms we showed them, especially when we pointed out the display board inspiration. But even more, they were intrigued by how we'd bridged the sensory food profiles into the prototypes -- the level of sweetness, the specific ingredient cheese flavor, the degree of residual mouth sensation, the size of the product in relation to mouth aperture and more.

Our show-and-tell set a precedent for communication with the client. I subsequently presented the sensory profiles to internal sensory product developers and marketing personnel at the client's facility, and had the opportunity to provide sensory input as the project progressed.

Guidelines for effective communications apply, regardless of the need, budget or timeframe. Establishing an open and honest relationship that supports the project at hand and respects project parameters encourages the product developer to seek ways to expand sensory input. Together, sensory and R&D must continue to partner and communicate the value of collaboration to the highest levels.

Nancy C. Rodriguez is a sensory specialist and president of Oak Park, IL-based Food Marketing Support Services, Inc. (www.fmssinc.com), a contract food product design firm. Anne Hunt, FMSS writer-in-residence, also contributed to this article.

Back to top

3400 Dundee Rd. Suite #360Northbrook, IL 60062Phone: 847-559-0385Fax: 847-559-0389E-Mail: [email protected]Website: www.foodproductdesign.com