The plant-based trend now has serious attention from manufacturers from start-up businesses to larger Food & Beverage organisations. Whilst some are witnessing success in their product development others have not quite hit the mark with consumer expectations. Creating a multi-sensory product experience as well as addressing the health and environmental concerns of consumers is immensely challenging.

It is important to understand what the consumer wants. Conducting research at all stages in the development process is critical to ensure that the whole consumer experience is congruent; that it delights, and does not let your consumer down. Examining your concept, prototype products, and packaging to define the full sensory experience provides valuable assessment of how close prototypes are to a concept, subsequently proceeding to create a consistent final product.

Tracey Sanderson, Managing Director at SAM UK, contributed to the latest Food Matters Live podcast ‘Will taste and texture innovations encourage more consumers to go plant-based?’ hosted by Stefan Gates, discussing how essential the sensory attributes of texture and taste are when developing plant-based alternative products.

To discuss any support you require with your product development, please do get in touch. Our sensory, product and packaging research approaches can provide you with the insights you need.