Tasting new food concepts at the Test & Taste Center

Entrepreneurs may think that their new egg, meal, drink or smoked sausage is the tastiest of all, but what does the customer think? In the Test & Taste Center at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, consumers can taste and give their opinion before a new product is launched on the market.

Jella Theeuwen is business developer at the campus. She talks about the recently opened Test & Taste Center: "If you develop a new product or concept, you want to know whether it meets the needs of consumers. After all, it is they who decide what to put in their shopping cart. Because Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo is all about healthy and safe food, this is the place for a Test & Taste Center where consumer panels can test new food products and concepts."

Taste tests

Producers and developers of food products can knock on the door of the test center with their concepts. "We coordinate and ensure that the entire taste test is carried out professionally. In doing so, we make use of the knowledge of parties in the campus community. You can think of the various sensory labs and expertise of Maastricht University to the taste panels of Kokkerelli & Kids University for Cooking Foundation. We make sure that parties receive the taste test they need. We work from a demand-driven perspective and not from a general taste test standardization. That is the added value of the campus. We ensure that the questions are asked in the right way and we instruct the test panel. After all, you want reliable, objective test results."

Pricks-free

The campus has facilities that make it possible to test reliably. Maastricht University's Taste Lab is the heart of the Test & Taste Center. Jella: "This lab is a perfect testing environment. The test panel can taste here in a stimulus-free environment; they are not distracted by other smells, for example. Because of the individual test booths the testers do not influence each other. Depending on the research question, a living room setting can also be used."

Limburg eggs

One of the companies that used the Test & Taste Center is a poultry farmer from Limburg. In his own words he developed an egg that tastes better than other eggs, but what is the opinion of the customer? A comparison test took place in Venlo, looking at taste, color, smell and texture. The first study confirmed that you can influence taste and that the egg was actually perceived as tastier. At the same time, a series of follow-up questions came up, which the Limburg farmer now has to get to work on.

Tasters wanted

The tasters in the Test & Taste Center are average consumers. There is still room for new testers on the panel, says Jella. "You can expect a call about once a month and you decide whether to participate. The taste tests take a maximum of 30 minutes. We always give a short instruction so that you can start the test well prepared. The panel members receive a small compensation, but that is not what most of them are interested in. They enjoy being involved in the development of new food products and concepts in this way."

Would you also like to taste and give your opinion? Then sign up via the website. Or are you a business looking for consumer opinion? Then check out here for more information.

Source: Brightlands