Sensory
Analysis

With over 20 years experience, our sensory services allow you to outsource sensory duties with confidence.

Our Expert Team

25+ trained sensory panellists + 4 panel leaders, many with 15 years experience and majority with at least 8 years experience.
In-house chef for sample and food preparation

Our Facilities

2 Sensory laboratories allowing us the freedom to run 2 panels at the same time.
15 individual booths linked to bespoke Sensory Analysis software for electronic reporting of results and ability to monitor panellist and panel performance.
Food preparation area.
State of the art air handling equipment to eliminate odour cross contamination during or between panels.
Ability to change lighting for particular product types.

Value of using our sensory panels

Sensory panels are used to provide an understanding of the key sensory properties that drive consumer acceptability. Our trained panel focuses on objective measurements and takes the “liking” out of the analysis.

Panels are used for assessment of appearance, texture, aroma and flavour of food & beverages of relevance to Quality Assurance, New Product Development and Marketing personnel and typically focused in the following key areas:

In many cases the LabSens sensory panel guided by the panel leader will determine and describe the product attributes of products being assessed, while in other cases the client provides the specific attributes and we assess and report on these attributes as required by our client. Our team can purchase relevant products from local retailers to assist with competitor analysis or triangle tests if required.

Descriptive Tests

Our trained sensory panel understand the sensory profile of the product, define the key attributes and rate the intensities of each attribute. Descriptive tests can be used to measure attributes of new or existing products or to examine the impact of a product re-formulation.

Discrimination Tests

Determines whether a set of products are similar or different. Mostly used for new product launches or reformulations using triangle tests as represented above.

Benchmarking

Gives an overall impression of a product’s key attributes and their relative intensities compared to competitor products. This enables us to outline where the key differences exist per attribute.

Reporting

The LabSens portal is available for clients running on-going Sensory Panel programmes and allows the end-user to track results over time and to compare category or product data per cycle or between cycles. The portal stores your historical data allowing you to track performance over longer time periods if required.

SensoryAnalysis