Sensory tests

Independent Sensory Analysis

An independent consumer analysis was carried out in January 2000 on 100 Scottish ABC1 consumers in the twenty-plus age group. The analysis was designed to identify consumer preferences for the Mrs Unis brand over its competitors. The consumers were all regular eaters of Asian snack foods and products were assessed in terms of aroma, appearance, colour, texture and flavour in order to identify preference differences.

Six products from the Mrs Unis brand were tested:

• Chicken Pakora
• Vegetable Pakora
• Chicken Samosa
• Vegetable Samosa
• Mince Samosa
• Onion Bhajee

The consumer testing occurred in two stages. Stage one assessed the effect of the method of reheating (oven, fried, microwave and eaten cold) for each of the six products. The results have been used in new product development, as well as for recommending the best method of reheating on product packaging . Stage two compared the Mrs Unis brand against two of its competitors. What can be seen from the results on this independent consumer testing is that Scottish consumers significantly preferred the Mrs Unis brand. Our vegetable pakora received comments such as "excellent flavour", "nice texture" and "crunchy and tasty".

Accuracy

The Food Industry Forum in Edinburgh carried out the independent consumer testing. The Forum is built to British and International standards and features Fizz II software, which is user friendly, paperless and efficient. The Fizz II software is designed specifically for sensory analysis in that it tests products in the most unbiased way possible through the use of computers. This allows for accurate analysis as human error is removed. However, since the panel consisted of regular consumers of Asian snack products from the mainstream Scottish community, it is recognised that different results could be produced by a sample from different geographic, social and cultural backgrounds.