12 Quality and consumer acceptability S.R. P.R. Durand. hP Foods Ltd 12.1 Introduction Quality is an essential feature that will lead the consumer to select or not any food product. With numerous food scares that have hit the food market in the UK and Europe(E. coli, BSE, genetically modified organisms-based products, dioxins in animal feed in belgium) consumers have become much more aware and therefore selective in their choice to food Quality takes many aspects from safety to nutrition, sensory characteristics to service qualities. Consumers integrate these concepts to decide which product to buy according to their own criteria. A safe product is an essential requirement but will never suffice to sell a product Consumers want an attractive product in terms of organoleptic properties at a price they consider appropriate. It should satisfy their needs in terms of service provided(e.g. convenience, ease of opening)and more and more related to specific nutritional needs (vitamins, functional ingredients, low calories, low salt). In summary, quality is the combination of features in a product which ensure customer satisfaction From this definition of quality, it can be seen that customers will repeat the purchase of a chilled product if they are satisfied by its sensory quality, in one word if they are pleasurable to eat. Our senses are extremely sensitive and sophisticated to scrutinise our outside world. For example, our sense of smell, although not as sensitive as some other animal species, can detect hundreds of different odours. The topic of the first and second sections will give an overview of the way we measure quality of chilled products using our senses. It will also show how using a pool of people trained in the detection and description of sensory qualities will give the ability to product developers and quality managers to develop the best product, every time. However, understandi12.1 Introduction Quality is an essential feature that will lead the consumer to select or not any food product. With numerous food scares that have hit the food market in the UK and Europe (E. coli, BSE, genetically modified organisms-based products, dioxins in animal feed in Belgium) consumers have become much more aware and therefore selective in their choice to food. Quality takes many aspects from safety to nutrition, sensory characteristics to service qualities. Consumers integrate these concepts to decide which product to buy according to their own criteria. A safe product is an essential requirement but will never suffice to sell a product. Consumers want an attractive product in terms of organoleptic properties at a price they consider appropriate. It should satisfy their needs in terms of service provided (e.g. convenience, ease of opening) and more and more related to specific nutritional needs (vitamins, functional ingredients, low calories, low salt). In summary, quality is the combination of features in a product which ensure customer satisfaction. From this definition of quality, it can be seen that customers will repeat the purchase of a chilled product if they are satisfied by its sensory quality, in one word if they are pleasurable to eat. Our senses are extremely sensitive and sophisticated to scrutinise our outside world. For example, our sense of smell, although not as sensitive as some other animal species, can detect hundreds of different odours. The topic of the first and second sections will give an overview of the way we measure quality of chilled products using our senses. It will also show how using a pool of people trained in the detection and description of sensory qualities will give the ability to product developers and quality managers to develop the best product, every time. However, understanding 12 Quality and consumer acceptability S. R. P. R. Durand, HP Foods Ltd