In search of the organic taste

Ecropolis is the name of the project that experts in sensory evaluation in six countries have been running over the last three years. “Do organic products really taste different?” “Can they be improved?” “Does the organic image have an effect on consumers’ acceptance?” These were the questions that were put to 60 selected organic customers in each country. Six different product groups were tested: biscuits, yogurt, tomato sauce, salami, apples and sunflower oil. The aim was not just to investigate how the organic products on the market were received by the consumers but also to establish how people’s taste differed from country to country. “How can you use taste to market products?” was the core question of the national evaluation event for Germany that was held at the beginning of October 2011 in Fulda. (Participants in the seminar tasting various sorts of yogurt)
“The evidence shows that across the whole of Europe people have different preferences,” is how Elke Röder, the managing director of BNN Herstellung und Handel (the association of organic processors and manufacturers in Germany), summed up the results. She opened the German evaluation event, that took place on 6.10.2011, by welcoming the participants and giving a short address. She said that the project, funded by the EU and under the auspices of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL), had provided the opportunity to look beyond the borders of individual countries and to work on a joint European project. “We want people to have tangible experience of the diversity of food, its preparation and flavours,” Röder said. Whereas in the conventional trade everything was going more and more in the direction of standardisation, the organic industry was consciously distancing itself from this trend. She displayed a poster with the headline “Organic tastes good…” that has recently become available in the specialist trade for participants in the “Bio-Kodex” campaign (BNN’s code of commitments by the organic industry). It can, for example, be used for tasting campaigns.

“Preference mapping” was the new slogan. Which countries prefer sweeter biscuits? Where is smoked and not air-dried salami in demand? Which consumers prefer de-odourised sunflower oil with a neutral taste instead of oil with an individual taste of its own? Analysis of these issues and much more besides was carried out in the laboratories of the various countries with the help of sensory testing. The result was a big table presenting the preferences of the different regions in Europe. For example, the biscuit test revealed that Italians like especially sweet biscuits, the French like biscuits with the taste of cereals and the Poles like to be able to taste the fat content. In Switzerland a garlic salami with fine mould proved not to be so popular. Whereas in Switzerland and Italy yellow sunflower oil was important and a slight astringent note was readily accepted, the French wanted their sunflower oil to have a mild taste. In contrast, in Germany people like oil with a distinct sunflower flavour.

It was interesting to test attitudes to organic food. Whereas the initial tasting was always a blind test, in the next phase the assessors were told whether they were tasting an organic or a conventional product. Having been given this information, in Germany the approval rating rose whereas in France it tended to go down.

In the new Osis database, the results of the Ecropolis project have been collected in a way that is
easily understood by the layman. With just a few clicks, you can access the requirements and the expectations of customers with organic orientation. Tasting panels, each with 60 people, were set up in every one of the six participating countries (Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Italy and Switzerland). One half of each panel consisted of heavy organic users, and the other half of light organic users.

What do you have to look out for in tasting sessions? ttz Bremerhaven, a provider of research services, was responsible in the Ecropolis project for, among other things, developing the overall evaluation system of the tastings. Kirsten Buchecker (picture) explained to the participants what the issues were in a firm (for example, a wholesaler or manufacturer) and in a store dealing with consumers. She said that in recent years fatty, metallic and spicy (umami) had been added to the four flavours sweet, sour, salty and bitter. In her talk, she went into all the details that play a part when conducting tastings. Running parallel to the theory, was the practical tasting by the participants in the Fulda workshop of yogurt, biscuits, sunflower oil and salami, which they evaluated on a scale. Buchecker explained why organic products sometimes had a different taste from what many people expected: with their flavourings and sweeteners, the conventional food industry has been influencing the taste of consumers, with the result that they then regard their products as “normal”. You see this in the case of fruit yogurt, for example. On the other hand, the discussion about the use of flavouring in the organic industry had led to fruit yogurt without added flavouring being offered in the conventional market too.

What is the practical application of the Ecropolis project for the food industry? “Based on the comparative analysis of the various parameters, a Polish biscuit manufacturer was able to make real improvements to his product,” said Tim Obermove (picture) from the University of Göttingen, that was involved in the market research testing. “After health, taste is the most important criterion when it comes to deciding what to buy,” Obermove explained. He said that it was,
therefore, a question of unique positioning in the market by means of taste differentiation. It was very important when introducing new products to create a provenance image and to tell the product story, because lots of special features needed to be explained. Apart from the knowledge gained and the exchange of ideas at the scientific level across Europe, export-oriented manufacturers were the main beneficiaries of the project. In future, they can check the Osis database to see what product characteristics are specifically in demand in a particular region. The online information is, however, still restricted to only six product groups.

And worthy of note in passing: evidently sensory evaluation is of interest mainly to women. Fewer than 20 % of the participants in the evaluation sessions in Fulda were men. It’s surprising, but men nevertheless value the good taste of food just as much as women.

Tip: www.ecropolis.eu