Abstract
Children’s vegetable intake is too low, and a key barrier to the inadequate intake is low acceptance. To facilitate successful development of new vegetable-based products for children, a sensory science approach to product development has been taken. A new theoretical model is proposed, the CAMPOV model: Children’s Acceptance Model for Product development of Vegetables. The model is informed by scientific literature and considers biological, psychological, and situational, and intrinsic and extrinsic product factors relevant to children’s acceptance of vegetables, with a focus on modifiable factors at the product level. Simultaneously, 14 new vegetable-based product concepts for children were developed and evaluated through focus groups with 5–8-year-olds (n = 36) as a proof-of-concept evaluation of the model. Children had high interest in six of the concepts. Factors identified from the literature that positively associated with the children’s interest in the concepts included bright colours, bite-sized pieces, good taste, fun eating experience, and familiarity. The CAMPOV model and proof-of-concept evaluation results can guide further sensory and consumer research to increase children’s acceptance of food products containing vegetables, which will in turn provide further insights into the validity of the model. The food industry can use the model as a framework for development of new products for children with high sensory appeal.
Highlights
Children are an important target group for the food industry, as they are current consumers of products, but they increasingly have the power to influence family decisions and are future grocery buyers [1]
The sensory properties of many vegetables do not appeal to our innate likes, and often need some form of transformation to appeal to children or need to be learned
38 children participated in the focus groups, with a range of 4 to 6 children per focus group
Summary
Children are an important target group for the food industry, as they are current consumers of products, but they increasingly have the power to influence family decisions and are future grocery buyers [1]. The taste and texture of food are key drivers of consumption amongst children [4]. When comparing the key taste properties of vegetables to those of other core food groups, it was found that all other core foods possess taste qualities that are either innately liked or acquired very early in life [5]. Vegetables, on the other hand, do not contain such positive drivers of liking as a whole category. Rather, they contain a driver of dislike: bitter taste. Most children do not meet the recommended daily intake of vegetables for optimum health [6,7]. Novel targeted solutions to increase vegetable intake are needed
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