www.vtt.fi

Consumer and sensory research

VTT has expertise in consumer and sensory science. This combination gives us a solid basis for understanding factors affecting food quality and consumer acceptance. Our aim is to support the development of food applications by producing information that can be utilised in various stages of R&D- process such as product innovation, concept development or defining potential target market.

Business from technology

Our studies focus on factors

that affect or guide con-

sumers’ food choices. We

study the interplay between

consumer and product

characteristics, and analyse how this influ-

ences consumers’ product perceptions and

their subsequent decision making. By gain-

ing insight on consumer characteristics and

behaviour, their values, attitudes and life-

styles, we aim to understand how consum-

ers prioritise different food attributes in their

choices and how this information should

be applied in marketing efforts. In addition

to insight on food choice, our studies help

evaluating the potential of certain foods or

products among different target groups.

We utilise a wide range of qualitative and

quantitative research methods. Qualita-

tive methods include various interviewing

techniques, such as focus group discus-

sions and individual interviews. Surveys are

used for quantifying consumer attitudes,

beliefs and food choice interests as well as

segmenting consumers based on their per-

ceptions towards studied food or product.

In addition to surveys, we have experience in

carrying out experimental tests and field

experiments with real food samples. These

studies have contributed to generating under-

standing on how consumers perceive food

products with different characteristics such

as health claims or marketing messages.

In our recent projects we have studied:

• barriers for healthy eating among risk-of-

poverty consumer groups,

• consumers’ perceptions on seafood en-

riched with ingredients and how this in-

formation should be applied in further

marketing activities,

• the influence of health claims on food

packages and how consumers under-

stand them,

• novel packaging concepts for food prod-

ucts and consumers’ cognitive and af-

fective perceptions on them,

• consumer acceptance of foods with

added fibre (beta-glucan) and the effect

of health claim on consumers’ willing-

ness to buy

Additional informationSensory science

Dr. Raija-Liisa Heiniö

Tel. +358 40 575 6127

raija-liisa.heinio@vtt.fi

Recent publications• Dean M, Lampila P, Shepherd R, Arvola A,

Reis AS, Vassallo M, Claupein E, Winkel-mann M and Lähteenmäki L. 2012. Per-ceived Relevance and Foods with Health-Related Claims. Food Quality and Preference , Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 129–135.

• Heiniö, R.-L., Kaukovirta-Norja, A. & Pou-tanen, K. 2012. Flavor in processing new oat foods. Cereal Foods World. 56 (1), 21-26. 10.1094/CFW-56-1-0021

• Heiniö, R.-L., Nordlund, E., Poutanen, K. & Buchert, J. 2012. Use of enzymes to elu-cidate the factors contributing to bit-terness in rye flavour. Food Res. Int., 45, 31-38. 10.1016/j.foodres.2011.10.006

• Lindman M, Pennanen K, Rothenstein J, Scozzi B & Vincze Z. 2012. The Practise of Customer Value Creation and Mar-ket Effectiveness Among Low-Tech SMEs. Journal of Global Business and Technology Vol. 8, No.1, 1–15.

• Shepherd R, Dean M, Lampila P, Arvola A, Reis AS, Vassallo M, Claupein E, Winkel-mann M and Lähteenmäki L. 2012. Com-municating the Benefits of Wholegrain and Functional Grain Products to Eu-ropean Consumers. Trends in Food Sci-ence & Technology, Vol. 25, pp. 63-69.

• Pennanen K, Luomala H & Solovjova J. 2011. Analyzing the Antecedents and Consequences of Consumer Ethno-centrism amongst Russian Food Con-sumers. Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Academy of Marketing Science World Mar-keting Congress, 763–771.

• Viljanen K., Lille M., Heiniö R.-L. & Buchert J. 2011. Effect of high-pressure pro-cessing on volatile composition and odour of cherry tomato purée. Food Chemistry, 129 (2011) 1759-1765.

• Heiniö, R.-L., Liukkonen, K.-H., Myllymäki, O., Pihlava, J.-M., Adlercreutz, H., Heinonen, S.-M. & Poutanen, K. 2008. Quantities of phenolic compounds and their impacts on the perceived flavour attributes of rye grain. J Cereal Science, 47, 566-575.

quality

• Removal of unwanted sensory properties (e.g. bitterness)

• Enhancement and stabilisation of good sensory properties

Perception data• Physiology• Interactions• Evaluation

Data on chemistry and physics of matrices• Food content analysis• Food structure analysis

• Reduction of salt, sugar, fat and additives (E-codes)

• Thermal processing• Drying• Enzymatic processing• Fermentation

• Fractionation• Modification of fractions

Combining data matrices

• Statistical multivariate analysis

Means of food processing

Pleasantness

Berry

Cereal

Meat, fish, milk

• Effect of texture on flavour release

• Effect of packaging on sensory

Food materials

Impact on sensory characteristics

Flavour design expertise at VTT

Sensory research - designing flavour, texture and packagingFlavour and texture are the key sensory attrib-

utes of food products. Understanding the re-

lations between sensory properties, chemical

and physiological composition and impact of

processing parameters of food in connection

with consumer preferences is a prerequisite

to successful product development.

Sensory design consists of means for

developing foods with desired flavour and

texture and other perceived qualities. Sen-

sory and consumer studies are used to de-

fine the target qualities. We measure flavour,

mouth-feel and other sensory characteris-

tics by using our trained in-house sensory

panel consisting of skilled assessors. The

material properties underlying the perceived

flavour and texture are studied by analysing

flavour-active volatile and non-volatile chem-

ical compounds and microstructure of food.

These attributes are associated to the sen-

sory characteristics by statistical multivariate

techniques. The main focus is on research

of plant-based materials, such as cereal

and berry based foods. In addition to me-

chanical processing, such as fractionation,

biotechnological means for flavour design

include use of bioprocessing with enzymes

and starter cultures.

We have also applied descriptive pro-

filing successfully in new applications, such

as development of user-friendly packages.

In our recent projects we have studied:

• impact of novel bioprocessing tech-

niques, especially enzyme treatments,

for flavour design in plant-based foods,

aiming to develop tailored techniques for

flavour boosting or elimination

• new berry products and health promot-

ing ingredients by microbial fermenta-

tions with enhanced sensory properties,

health effects and antimicrobial potential

• biochemical reactions during high pres-

sure/ high temperature processing af-

fecting safety and quality of plant-based

foods

• development of food products, meals and

packages tailored for senior consumers

• development of tools to produce user-

friendly pharmaceutical packages that

are easy to open with easy to read in-

structions

Consumer science

Anne Arvola

Tel. +358 40 701 9631

anne.arvola@vtt.fi

Technology and market foresight • Strategic research • Product and service development • IPR and licensing • Assessments, testing, inspection, certification • Technology and innovation management • Technology partnership

VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLANDwww.vtt.fi