Here today, gone tomorrow: identifying sensory drivers in a fast-evolving category

Our client wanted to understand sensory drivers within a meat-free category. However, they didn’t want to invest a huge amount in a study to identify drivers now that in 6-12 months might be outdated due to the category’s pace of change.

We first tested a number of products and prototypes with UK consumers, and the client provided us with their sensory data for the same product set. Then, using our Sensory AI Drivers approach, we combined the consumer and sensory data to identify sensory drivers and guide product optimization.

The drivers analysis identified clear opportunities to optimize, better replicating meat in the eating experience but diverging from meat in other areas where there was no reason for a non-meat product to have that characteristic (i.e. it would be artificial to engineer that experience in).