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Here's the FMSS sensory 2-cents on current food and beverage trends!
SENSORY PRODUCT PAINTING
By Anne Hunt, Writer-in-Residence
During the recent Consumer Trends Forum International in Portland, OR, I toured the city's "green" buildings. A brochure from Environmental Building Supplies invited visitors to their showroom "where you can see, feel and smell the quality of our full array of products."
Among their displays of sustainable, natural, recycled and low-toxic products was an exhibit of YOLO Colorhouse paint . YOLO "borrows" the earth's naturally occurring elements and combines them with environmentally responsible paint. Consumers say they have a hard time choosing paint colors. YOLO listened and provided a limited number of choices, grouped them by color and provided large repositionable paint swatches. They present earth-inspired colors as a palette -- grouped into categories with strong sensory identity: leaf, grain, stone, clay, air, water and petal. The colors make interior spaces intimate and welcoming - and created visceral feelings as I said their names and stroked the samples.
Sensory is key to YOLO's appeal, as it is to the FMSS product development process. YOLO's tagline, "created by scientists and artists with nature in mind," echos our practice of combining art with culinary and sensory science with consumers in mind. We use our trained sensory skills to create consumer palettes that guide innovation and translate to Actionable Sensory Solutions™. We invite consumers to experience taste, aroma and texture, as well as sound (like a crackling cereal flake), shape and color. Today's consumers want products that engage and make them feel healthy and happy. I look for food words that elicit the kind of feelings I get from leaf, grain, stone, clay, air, water and petal. How about fresh, pungent, infused, earthy, moist, chewy, crisp, charred, smooth, juicy, spicy, gooey, hearty, vibrant…
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