Apply Valuable Insights from Time-based Sensory Mapping with Consumers

Use time-based sensory mapping with consumers to ensure you have a successful product that you know your consumers will love.

We are increasingly using time-based sensory mapping to obtain detailed sensory feedback on what consumers perceive during food and drink consumption. For example,

• Does your competitor’s product have a more desirable initial ‘bite’? Or upfront burst of flavour?
• Is the texture positively received throughout the entire eating experience?
• Is there an aftertaste that consumers do not like?

We use ‘TCATA’ to characterise your product by time-based sensory mapping with consumers. It stands for ‘Temporal Check-All-That-Apply’.

‘Temporal’ is the key, as this method looks at the timing of in-mouth consumer perceptions during the eating experience, when the different sensations are delivered by the product, and how the consumer experience changes throughout the eating journey.

Insights from time-based sensory mapping through TCATA can be instrumental in projects such as:

• New product development, renovation and innovation (e.g. how the new product delivers the different in-mouth sensory characteristics)
• Product optimisation and validation (e.g. to improve or check how the different in-mouth sensations are being delivered)
• Matching flavour or texture profiles / product matching (where taking ‘temporality’ into account is essential)
• Shelf-life testing (e.g. to check whether an ‘aged’ product features similar temporal sensory characteristics than a fresh product)
• Product reformulation (e.g. salt or sugar reduction, MSG removal – where practitioners need to check the impact it has on flavour/texture/aftertaste delivery)

Key services

Sensory Testing

Rapid attribute profiling, UKAS accredited triangle testing and more.

Consumer Testing

Product assessment, evaluation and performance.

Innovation and Insights

Customised research designs to understand consumers' in-depth.

Sensory Training

Individual or team sessions, scheduled or tailored.

Time-based Sensory Mapping

Increasingly using time-based sensory mapping to obtain detailed sensory feedback.

Facilities

State–of–the–art facilities for consumer and sensory testing.

Sensing Brands

Creating a distinctive and motivating sensory signature.

Clients

Working with clients from across the food and beverage supply chain.

Knowledge Centre

A selection of our consumer and sensory Research and Development reports.

Other links

• Accreditations
• Guidelines
• GDPR: Our privacy notice and other Campden BRI information