The Future of Sensory Science
As the discipline of sensory and consumer science continues to evolve, sharing of the science of our discipline at the biennial Pangborn Symposium is an important touchpoint for educating, learning, and building relationships with our peers. The 2023 Symposium was no different as it was another successful meeting in highlighting the future of Sensory and Consumer science.
Topics covered at the Pangborn 2023 Symposium
This year’s 15th Pangborn Symposium “Meeting New Challenges in a Changing World” covered a variety of topics that were pertinent to the challenges of understanding human behavior. The European lead conference chairs did an excellent job in ensuring relevant topics were addressed in both oral and poster sessions.
- Although traditional sensory and consumer techniques have been around for many years, the key to a successful and sustainable product launch is understanding how to blend and leverage traditional and new techniques to truly understand consumer behavior. Many new researchers are putting a strong stake in the ground to understand these dynamics in much more detail. Of the new techniques, A.I. has become front and center in understanding and measuring consumer behavior.
- Bringing the consumer into the development process early is critical to ensuring development is moving in the right direction. While our industry has always been consumer-focused, it feels like there is a renaissance on how to engage the consumer–it’s fascinating.
- Understanding changes in behavior patterns driven by circumstances (environment, peer perception, sustainability, etc.) is the key to repeat purchase. So many of my peers are really starting to understand this relationship in intimate detail. As this research evolves, the entire industry will be in a better position to ensure successful product launches.
- Other conference topics included updates on the impact of sensory physiology/genetics and the effects of COVID on sensory perception and the intersection of Gastronomy and food science and opportunities for sensory and consumer scientists
Experienced sensory professionals who have incorporated methodologies of other disciplines to truly understand what drives purchase/consumption behavior will be key to ensuring the success of future product development whether it be for product improvements or exploring development in white spaces. Our industry has a bright future ahead of it!
Boss Ladies Podcast
On July 26, 2023 I had the honor of participating in an episode of The Boss Ladies Podcast that was hosted by 2 amazing young women, Sualeha Irshad and Manasi Gajjalapurna. It was a fun dialogue among the three of us as we talked about the disciplines of Flavor Chemistry, Sensory, and Consumer Science. Their podcast mission is to highlight career opportunities that might not be so obvious to graduating high school seniors/college students. As recent high school graduates, both ladies were so articulate and engaging in our dialogue. It was such a pleasure to to be a part of their program. If you are at all interested in listening to our discussion, attached is the Spotify link. https://open.spotify.com/show/304F8MOG5m3Dnf4SckDcI1?si=e59f436b9569492a
