ADDRESSING CONSUMER NOTIONS AND INDIVIDUALITY

Abstract

Fresh fruit and vegetables will become more of a speciality item and less viewed as bulk merchandise for the mass market in the future. Therefore it is important to be able to deliver improved consumption quality, convenience and originality. It means maximising appearance, flavour and handling appreciation and eating experience. These affective and emotional sentiments are subject to individual differences and thus diverse consumer segments must be addressed. Authenticity instead of arbitrariness is one of the trends in the food sector. In the area of fruit and vegetables, there are many underutilised, indigenous or heirloom varieties and species. But often there is a gap between product description, sometimes including information on culinary appreciation and a lack of reproducible information on original sensory profiles of the product. To fill this gap we developed an authenticity test, starting with a catalogue of important and characterising attributes, which was appropriate to distinguish samples, which can be considered as original and those with non typical attributes. With this information, analytically determined properties could be assigned to authentic samples. Often the concentration of certain compounds (e.g. glucosinolates or balance of glucosinolates and sugars) can alter the actual flavour note of Brassica vegetables, which can be detrimental to consumer acceptability. Analysis of consumer data showed, that there were different consumer segments regarding the liking of sweet-and bitterness. Softening of the fruit texture of tomatoes is often regarded as being negative to consumer acceptability. But consumers differ with regard to their idea of an ideal fruit firmness. We found that selection of consumer segments had the same magnitude of effect on acceptability than the changes during storage of red fruit during 7 days at 20°C. Again perceived product quality was influenced by addressing consumer segments.