The vision of the NZOZ Sensory Symposium is to provide a vibrant, welcoming, and collaborative platform that unites the Sensory & Consumer Science communities across Australia, New Zealand and the wider South Asian region. Our goal is to foster networking, exchange ideas, and keep the community up to date with the latest developments, supporting both students and professionals.
The theme for the 20th Symposium, Explore the Experience, is designed to inspire discussion, broaden perspectives, and uncover new angles in sensory and consumer science. Our keynote speaker, Professor Liesbeth Zandstra, brings unique expertise from both academia and industry, working to understand food reward behaviour and how multisensory product experiences can shape healthier choices. The workshop series complements this by offering perspectives from different lenses including historians, coffee specialists, and dietitians, expanding how we think about sensory science in practice.
Our discipline thrives on collaboration: uniting cross-disciplinary perspectives, connecting research with practice, and building partnerships between universities and industry. Whether it is partnering with chefs to understand consumer responses, aligning sensory measures with roasters’ quality attributes in coffee, or learning from food historians and industrial engineers about how eating practices have evolved, collaboration drives innovation and impact.
This milestone 20th anniversary highlights not only the strength of the Australian and New Zealand community but also a growing number of international participants from neighbouring Asian regions.
