How Quorn TM made the switch to natural flavouring systems using Consumer and Sensory science

Transcription

1 How Quorn TM made the switch to natural flavouring systems using Consumer and Sensory science

2 A Fifty Year Overnight Success Story The Context: The 1960 s The present day The future

3 The 1960s was a time of huge achievements...

4 ...And growing concerns

5 Dramatic changes are shaping the future of food policy

6 World population to reach 9.1 billion in 2050, UN projects 24 February 2005 The world's population will reach 6.5 billion by July and, despite lower expected fertility rates, is likely to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, with most of the increase taking place in developing countries, the United Nations Population Division says in its revised report for In 2002 the Division had estimated a population in 2050 of 8.9 billion and last week, in a report sent to the 47-member UN Commission on Population and Development, had calculated the figure at 9 billion, reaching the 7 billion mark by 2012

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9 Growing concerns about superbugs as a result of overuse of antibiotics

10 Media Messages are becoming more vocal

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12 Category is positioned well for macro health and food trends that will keep gaining momentum Vegetarianism / Meat Reduction Weight Management / Obesity The need for new business models that help address the 9bn challenge - including a healthy new food with low impact. Sustainability Heart Health / Cholesterol Source: Weight-watchers, 2050 Forsyth report, British Heart Foundation 2009,

13 What is Quorn TM and how does it address the aforementioned issues?

14 Waer Sludge Effluent Water Sludge Mycop. waste Pack. waste Production of Mycoprotein & Quorn Products Fermentation Texture Creation 1T Electricity Mycoprotein paste Egg Alb. Forming Steaming Finished Product Offsite Frozen Storage (Grimsby) Chilling Freezing Waste ETP on site Water Waste ETP on site Packing retailer further food processing 8 m 3 Raw material Energy/utility River Fertiliser Sewerage Fertiliser Recycling Converts starch to protein efficiently Main raw materials are glucose, electricity and egg albumen 14 14

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16 SUSTAINABILITY

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19 VEGETARIANISM, MAINSTREAM & CONSUMER ISSUES

20 Potential penetration for meat-free category AU* Levels of vegetarianism vary by market Australia is low : levels are in line with Northern Europe UK 24% shows we transcend vegetarianism UK US France Holland Sweden Aus Vegetarian eating is much more mainstream when it includes those who usually maintain a vegetarian diet Australia has highest percentage of Meat Reducers and obesity, which correlates to relevance to Health Managers. Meat Reduction Vegetarian Cumulative 61.3% are Meat Reducers in Aus The Dual Target ensures we serve more than just Vegetarians Source : Datamonitor *Source: Brainjuicer U&A Australia June 2009

21 Consumer Segmentation And the Dual Consumer Targets map to our Segmentation Targets : Managers, Investors and Disciples 1. Vegetarians 2. People looking for a Healthier Diet The Vegetarian Need State is one entry point for the Brand driven strongly by Need There are a variety of other health reasons why people enter Meatfree health, diet, etc Health Strivers Vegetarians Dieters The Consumer Segmentation targets map into how the category can evolve from low volume with technology stakeholders through into mass market

22 HEALTH ISSUES

23 DIETARY FAT Guideline Advice: try to reduce the total fat in your diet. Why: advice on total fat is moving more to restricting the amount of saturated fats in the diet. In addition, fat is the most concentrated dietary source of calories. Quorn Can Help: Quorn foods are lower in total fat, sat fat (with little or no trans) and are less energy dense than their meat equivalent.

24 BODY WEIGHT Guideline Advice: try to maintain a healthy body weight. Why: obesity is increasingly linked with many diseases such as heart disease and diabetes Quorn Can Help: Quorn foods are lower in energy density than their meat equivalent and contain mycoprotein which has been shown to promote satiety feel fuller for longer

25 DIABETES Guideline Advice: dietary intervention to limit the peaks in blood glucose concentration is an important means to help control type 1 and type 2 diabetes Why: poor control of excess blood sugar can be damaging to health. Quorn might help: Quorn foods contain mycoprotein which has been shown to beneficially affect insulinaemia and glycemia. In addition, many Quorn foods are considered beneficial to a diabetic diet because of their low sat fat, fibre content and low energy density and satiety effects.

26 FLAVOUR MODIFICATION SWITCH TO NATURALS

27 Why do we need flavours in Quorn products? The need to differentiate - chicken style, beef style etc. Products need to be palatable mycoprotein is relatively bland The need to mask the flavours of other ingredients

28 Having established a franchise, it is important to keep our consumers happy

29 Vegetarians vs. Non Vegetarians The Marketplace Dynamics MARKET SPLIT (%) VOLUME (%) Vegetarian Non Vegetarians Vegetarian Non Vegetarians BOTH GROUPS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE QUORN BRAND

30 FLAVOURS Flavouring Systems need to appeal to a diverse group VEGETARIANS No reminders of meat? NON VEGETARIANS Meat is the reference point? WEIGHT MANAGERS Meat taste not an issue. Fat, saturated fat and satiety are key issues HEALTH STRIVERS Fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium

31 FLAVOURS Flavouring Systems need to deliver different tastes Chicken Style Beef Style Sausages Burgers Pork style, lamb style Processed meats chorizo, ham, cured meats, etc

32 FLAVOURS Want to make a positive claim Natural ingredients Natural flavours Only possible with natural flavours

33 CHALLENGES How do we maintain the signature characters of the specific flavour profiles when we switch to Natural? ISSUES Is the so-called signature character really that important to the consumer? How far can we deviate without losing consumer acceptability? Effect of any changes on shelf life

34 CHALLENGES Cost issues - 1.5m bill across all flavours SOLUTION Reduced dosage Higher/ optimized concentration of key components Use of flavour enhancing agents grills, roasts, herbs and spices, specialized yeast extracts

35 CHALLENGES Compatibility with other diverse ingredients SOLUTION Experimental design to evaluate impact of individual ingredients with key flavour components, especially ones that act like a flavour sink or are highly reactive and/or change state after processing

36 CHALLENGES Shelf life quality and acceptability SOLUTION Robust sensory shelf life programme All trial samples monitored extensively for changes over frozen life vs. std

37 FLAVOURS Approach Work with existing suppliers to identify key flavour attributes driving preference Define a clear and unambiguous action standard Ensure that the established taste franchise is not significantly compromised Pre-determine how far away the products can be from their existing profile without turning off existing users Use these attributes to formulate new flavours if a match in natural proves impossible

38 CONSUMER EVALUATION Approach is to define a clear and unambiguous action standard. For example Gap in Overall Liking Score between current and redeveloped product must not exceed x% Overall Liking Score should be no less than x on a 7 point hedonic scale Score for saltiness/strength of savory taste must be no lower than x

39 CONSUMER EVALUATION Carried out full consumer tests with key products Internal Sensory profile with Quorn Foods trained sensory panel to evaluate areas of difference in the taste profile Modify differences to get as close as possible to current standard Keep an eye on costs respondents after sensory profiling Mostly home use tests Iterative process, use diagnostics to help determine areas of greatest importance to the consumers

40 CONSUMER EVALUATION DECISION TREE Determine Overall Liking scores for standard product using 'existing users' consumer panel Use Consumer panel to determine Key drivers of Liking Brief suppliers to match product taste profile in 'Natural' Evaluate new samples with trained panel for differences YES Can the trained panel tell the difference? YES Is the difference in one or more of the key drivers of Liking? NO NO NO Has Cost Target been met? YES Full scale consumer test NO Was the Taste Action Standard achieved? YES Proceed to storage/shelf life trials LAUNCH

41 FLAVOUR PROFILES File: Chicken deli natural T10638 Sep 2010.frs Statistics computation: ANTISEPTIC Plot of: Mean TOTAL INTENSITY CHICKEN CARDBOARD SAVOURY BITTER SWEET SALT ROAST CHEESE METALLIC CHICKEN SKIN ASTRINGENT ACIDIC T10638/1 T10638/2 T10638/3 T10638/4 T10638/5 T10638/6 A RANGE OF FLAVOURS EVALUATED TO ENSURE A CLOSE MATCH

42 FLAVOUR PROFILES Profile 1 File: QTI flavour match Nov 08.frs Plot of: Mean MUSTY TOTAL INTENSITY WHITE MEAT BITTER DARK MEAT CARDBOARD CHARCOAL/SMOKE SALT SWEET PEPPER ROAST CHICKEN SKIN T9711/1 T9711/2 T9711/3 TARGET A CLOSER MATCH. IF NOT POSSIBLE, CONSUMER TESTING TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH THE DIFFERENCES MATTER

43 FLAVOUR PROFILES Profile 1 File: 07 july improvement.frs Statistics computation: global Sessions: All Plot of: Mean WHEAT/CEREAL TOTAL INTENSITY WHITE MEAT MUSTY DARK MEAT BITTER SWEET CARDBOARD CHICKEN SKIN ONION SALT BJF-C PJ-C ROAST IN MANY INSTANCES, A MATCH WAS ACHIEVED CONSUMERS COULD NOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE

44 Panel Score Panel Score Panel Score FLAVOUR PROFILE MONITORING OVER SHELF LIFE WHITE MEAT FLAVOUR INTENSITY DAY 0 DAY 10 DAY 20 Chilled Shelf life - extended life Control New CHICKEN SKIN DAY 0 DAY 10 DAY 20 Chilled Shelf life-extended life Control New DAY 0 DAY 10 DAY 20 Chilled Shelf life-extended life Control New MONITORING OF CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN THE PROFILE DURING SHELF LIFE. ENSURE NO MAJOR DIVERGENCE OF KEY ATTRIBUTES

45 CONCLUSIONS Flavour reformulation relied on close work with our partners and suppliers Exact matches were not always possible at cost parity Determine which characters were most important to our consumers Important to carry along our consumers by not having a major flavour profile compromise Minimise confusion by a clear action standard

46 Thank you! 46