Developing new corporate understanding of an existing product

Purpose – Innovation cannot come without in‐depth understanding of the product and its consumer perception. This paper aims to show the approach for consumer‐centric re‐development strategy, from design of the experiment to execution, analysis, modeling and strategies for implementation. Design/methodology/approach – The approach described uses a relatively large‐scale experimental design of ingredients (12 variables) to vary sensory attributes and conduct sensitivity analysis with consumers. Findings – The resulting product was a big marketing success for the producer. A disciplined experimentation based on statistically sound experimental designs produces much better food products with increased acceptability by consumers. Practical implications – Statisticians have turned their attention to modeling the relations between physical variables and subjective consumer responses. The resulting products are optimized to meet sensory preferences of the consumers including varied sensory segmentation of the markets. Originality/value – Using advanced multivariate experimental design for sensory optimization has proved many times its advantages although still not universally used. The approach could help the marketers and developers create better products that consumers like.