ASTM Sensory standards are globally relevant resources for every sensory practitioner, market researcher, and product developer. In this seminar, you’ll learn how to translate and apply these guidelines and methods to your sensory research. You’ll get the inside view from sensory scientists like you about how they approach and use ASTM E18 standards to creatively solve problems, deliver results, and impact strategic business decisions.
These best practice documents are based on sound science, developed and continuously updated by the input and consensus of a wide range of industry, academic, and government sensory professionals. E18 standards cover both food and beyond food products and materials, spanning methods and guidelines for building and improving a sensory program, planning and executing robust sensory and consumer research, developing and qualifying prototypes and products, quality assurance, and claims substantiation.
This seminar will demystify E18 standards, showing how they can practically be applied to your work. We’ll spotlight a few recent, broadly applicable standards and share what’s on the horizon for our dynamic sensory industry.
We'll also present the 2022 Peryam award to Dr. Christine Van Dongen. The Peryam award recognizes outstanding professionals in the field of applied sensory science; awardees have made significant and sustaining contributions to the advancement of the field of Applied Sensory Science.
One of the four skill sets that make up daring leadership is BRAVING trust. In this workshop attendees will:
- Master the essential elements behind being a trustworthy leader that people can count on to do what you say you will do, including acting within your competencies and limitations.
- Develop boundaries for you and your team that help create an environment of trust.
- Understand how trust is the foundation of successful relationships.
- Gain awareness of how your actions affect a trusting environment.
- Recognize patterns of mistrust and their effect on productivity and morale.
- Define what you can do to build and strengthen trust in your interactions.
*The workshop will be held on Thursday and Friday. Please attend only once as attendance will be limited.
Over the past decade, the need for a steady transition has occurred: the fundamental skills required of Sensory Scientists have shifted significantly from those of an execution mindset to a business impact mindset. In order to enhance our field’s influence in business decisions, we must continue to leverage new technologies to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up bandwidth for thought leadership, data intelligence, interpretation, insights generation, and business impact. Join us as a panel research experts will share their thoughts and lead a discussion around:
- How should the knowledge / skill-building / work be distributed across CPGs, Suppliers, and Academia?
- Are sensory scientists today prepared to contribute in a meaningful way to the task? (If not, how might we quickly upskill our people?)
- Are we making appropriate progress across all vectors of our scientific community? Are we partnering and communicating effectively?
- How might SSP play a role in advancing this goal?
- How do we ensure that we (or our teams) are delivering impact? How might we measure it?
New Technologies in Application: Case Studies & Data Analysis Strategies
Jen Grady (P&K) and Rafael Drabek (ACCE), Exploring the usage of smart-speaker surveys in sensory and consumer research. The application of voice-activated, hands-free technology will be explored in the context of consumer sensory research. Two different studies (one in US and one in Canada) were conducted among consumers utilizing Smart-Speaker technology to assess its application, practicality and added value in sensory research. Results from the research will be discussed, along with challenges and application for future use.
Chrisly Philip and Maria Elena Lozano (PepsiCo), Unlocking the potential: Key industry learnings & experiences with emerging digital technologies. In this talk, we will share industry perspectives on piloting digital technologies that specialize in virtual product development and sensor systems. First, we will discuss how these technologies complement rather than replace established sensory methods and that when leveraged together have the potential to transform ways of working. Next, we will share best practices for defining research objectives, establishing success criteria, and managing team expectations. Finally, we will attempt to demystify the domain knowledge required to pilot these technologies by demonstrating how sensory science fundamentals and traditional analysis approaches are still applicable and valuable when assessing these technologies.
Panelist Engagement with New Technologies
Ashley Soldavini (OSU), Using the panelist experience and engagement to assess the efficacy of new technologies in sensory and consumer testing. When exploring new technologies for sensory and consumer testing, understanding their influence on a panelist’s experience is a critical step in methods development. An optimized system is highly usable, and results in a positive user experience that can increase panelist engagement and lead to higher quality data. The Engagement Questionnaire is one tool for collecting such information and provides insights as to how methodological manipulations impact the panelist experience. However, diverse research questions may benefit from incorporating additional instruments (system usability) and using different data analysis methods. This presentation aims to introduce the concepts of panelist experience and engagement, why it is important to measure, and provide a space for discussion on several explored approaches for data analysis.
The New New: Web3 + Machine Learning
Tian Yu and Vanessa Rios de Souza (Aigora), How Web3 surveys enrich machine learning models for sensory and consumer science. Machine learning is becoming increasingly important in understanding sensory and consumer data. The quality of consumer data is crucial in building reliable and robust machine learning models. Using Web3 technology, consumers can safely store their taste and preference data in blockchain-backed digital wallets. These consumer-owned data can be used to build quality models which can predict the consumer liking for specific products or recommend products to a specific consumer.