Browsing by Author "Holmberg, Tommy"

Food consumption is changing, and consumers show increasing interest for how food is being produced and processed. Insights into consumer wants and needs has therefore never been more important for a food company developing a new product. The goal of this thesis is twofold. First, to investigate sensory characteristics in liquid meat stocks and second, to study Finnish consumers’ attitudes towards such stock products. This was achieved by performing a sensory study on three newly developed meat stocks, using a generic descriptive analysis method. A consumer survey was conducted investigating 551 Finnish consumers’ usage frequency and factors influencing purchase intentions of stock products. In SPSS, ANOVA tests were used to identify significant mouthfeel, appearance and flavour differences between five meat stock samples. Socio-demographic differences in user frequency of stock products and other factors influencing purchase intentions were determined using an ordered logit model, in STATA. The results from the sensory study suggest that roasting of meat, bones and vegetables before cooking leads to darker colour and stronger flavours but is not perceived to consistently improve overall pleasantness. Results from the consumer study suggest that stock cubes are the most popular type of stock product purchased. Furthermore, the most important factors when purchasing stock products are flavour, previous experience with the product and convenience. Interest in origin of raw materials, environmental-friendliness and animal welfare was shown to be affected by consumers’ age and area of living (urban/rural). Similarly, differences in gender, age and area of living affect user frequency. To conclude, these results suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic meat stock attributes are relevant to differentiate liquid stocks from other stock products and provide novel input into future marketing strategies.