Reformulating a food can respond to very different objectives: improving its nutritional profile, replacing ingredients, incorporating new raw materials, optimising costs or responding to new market demands. However, any change can modify attributes and alter the consumer experience.
For this reason, a reformulation should not be validated solely from a technological or analytical point of view. It is also necessary to identify what changes at a sensory level and whether that change affects product acceptance. Integrating this assessment during development makes it possible to make better-informed decisions and reduce risk before bringing a new formulation to market.
Reformulating without losing the product’s sensory identity
When a product is already on the market, the consumer has a previous reference and expectations about what it should be like. A technically correct modification may generate rejection if it significantly changes the attributes that the consumer associates with the product.
This can occur when replacing a raw material, reducing sugar, salt or fat, incorporating new ingredients or modifying a process. In all these cases, the challenge is not only to ensure that the new formulation is viable, but also to determine the extent to which the change alters the sensory experience.
First: identify what has changed
Sensory analysis of foods makes it possible to objectively assess how a formulation changes. Depending on the objective of the study, discriminative tests can be used to determine whether there are perceptible differences in the new formulation, and descriptive methodologies can be used to identify which attributes have changed and in what direction and intensity.
This information makes it possible to detect, for example, an increase in bitterness, a loss of aroma intensity, changes in texture or modifications in appearance before finalising the formulation. It also helps establish which attributes must remain stable in order to preserve the product’s sensory identity.
Next: check whether the consumer accepts the change
The existence of a sensory difference does not necessarily mean that it will negatively affect the consumer. Therefore, the next step is to understand how the target audience responds.
Consumer product tests make it possible to analyse acceptance, preferences, sensory strengths and weaknesses, or purchase intention. They can be applied during prototype selection, reformulation or pre-launch validation.
Depending on the objective of the study, it is possible to work under controlled conditions (product evaluation rooms) or assess the product under real conditions of use (homes). The combination of a trained panel and consumers makes it possible to answer two key questions: what has changed in the product? and is that change relevant to the person consuming it?
Integrating sensory evaluation during reformulation
Sensory evaluation provides greater value when it is not used solely as a final check. Defining from the early stages which attributes should be preserved, which differences may be acceptable and what the consumer expects makes it possible to use the results to guide successive formulation iterations.
This approach is linked to the role that the consumer can play at different stages of product development and innovation, from the selection of alternatives to the validation of the final formulation.
In addition, if the reformulation makes it possible to communicate a sensory improvement —for example, greater creaminess, better texture or a more intense flavour—, it is necessary to verify that this promise can be demonstrated. The validation of sensory claims helps support these messages through studies designed according to the benefit to be communicated.
How AINIA can help you
At AINIA, we design sensory studies incorporating your target consumer audience to guide and validate the reformulation of your product. This makes it possible to compare alternatives, identify which attributes have changed and check whether those differences are relevant to the consumer.
Through our sensory studies with trained panels and CLT and HUT consumer product tests, we help companies reduce uncertainty in reformulation processes and make better-informed decisions before bringing the product to market.
