Sensory and Consumer Science
Sensory and Consumer Science Homepage | Facilities and Services | Types of Sensory Tests | Contract Research for Clients
Anna Marin - PhD, Associate Professor Food Science and Technology
Phone (503) 872-6677 | Fax (503) 872-6678
The Sensory and Consumer Science Program provides important contributions to support the mission of the FIC to enhance and sustain the profitability of Pacific NW agricultural and food industries. A major determinant of an agricultural or food product's value is its consumer-acceptability, which is often the major criterion whether a product is successful or not in the marketplace. Sensory Science provides a scientific experimental approach to measure consumer behavior towards products thus providing objective and substantive data on which FIC clients can base product development and marketing decisions.
The Sensory and Consumer Science Program mission is to serve clients in a way that is analogous to how the FIC relates to the NW food and agricultural community: it is a nexus, or relational operation point. Input and output of sensory research are both people-oriented. Client-driven projects are addressed by sensory science measurements on people with the resulting data returned to clients to improve products to serve people. Sensory and consumer research is then FROM PEOPLE, TO PEOPLE, FOR PEOPLE.
A continuing challenge in conducting sensory and consumer studies that are so people-oriented is to maintain a scientific and objective study design that utilizes appropriate scientific controls to provide robust and objective results. The FIC sensory complex facilities, trained professional staff and test services offer state-of-the-art resources to design and conduct sensory and consumer experiments resulting in objective, valid and useful results to support FIC clients.
For more information contact: ann.colonna@oregonstate.edu
