Establish a Brand Standard

The Challenge

When a loyal consumer experiences your product, they consider it to be their own product. Iconic brands must deliver with consumer expectations in mind, or risk breaking faith with their core customers.

In the 1980s, Marks & Spencer introduced sensory specification into their private label purchasing process. To this day, leading retailers rely on their private label suppliers to establish sensory specifications that move beyond consumer liking to a standard of brand identity that defines the product.

The Solution

The main sensory analysis tool that helps us define sensory properties objectively is descriptive analysis. The proprietary Compusense Feedback Calibration, also referred to as FCM®, was introduced in 2003 and has become the most efficient and effective method for training and maintaining proficient descriptive analysis panels.

Results

By using immediate feedback to train panelists, it takes as little as two sessions to train panelists with individual onscreen guidance. Panelists input their responses to specific attributes using a series of line scales. Each screen displays their response in comparison to an established range. The feedback is immediate and accurate in identifying how close their response was to the target.

The immediacy of the feedback acts as reinforcement, subsequently expediting panelists’ learning and calibrating their responses to the target ranges. FCM® provides an effective method for training descriptive sensory panels to a high proficiency. These definitive profiles will help you guide all new development and future expansions objectively.