Consumer research and sensory analysis of food products
Consumer tastes, preferences and buying behaviours are changing constantly.
Researchers at the Health and Food Sciences Precinct can help you:
- identify and profile your target market
- define product attributes and assess their acceptability
- evaluate product concepts to guide development
- diagnose and address product quality issues.
Our facilities include:
- sensory booths with integrated data capture systems
- access to a trained taste panel
- focus group room with audio and visual recording
- commercial kitchen and cold storage.
Consumer research
Consumer research provides valuable insights into your potential customers. We use focus groups, surveys, at-home trials and innovative interview techniques to understand how consumers think and feel about food and beverage products.
This can help you understand:
- product concept and prototype evaluation to guide product development
- consumer profiling for both domestic and export markets
- customer motivation to inform targeted marketing strategies
- demand, purchase intent and consumer willingness to pay
- consumer tolerance thresholds for product defects.
Sensory analysis
Sensory analysis is the scientific evaluation of how products are perceived by the senses—taste, smell, sight, touch and sound—using a trained sensory panel, to measure quality and consumer appeal:
- difference testing to determine whether new product formulations differ in taste and texture from existing ones
- shelf-life studies combined with microbial analysis to assess product suitability and safety
- acceptability testing to evaluate how well a product aligns with consumer taste preferences
- flavour profiling to identify the attributes that drive consumer preferences and guide product development
- fault detection to identify and characterise undesirable flavours.
Contact us
Phone 13 QGOV (13 74 68) for more information.