Benchmarking – an obsession with quality
Share
Benchmarking Janetta Hylands talks about
the issues that contribute to the success - or
otherwise - of a new product.
Many factors contribute to the success - or otherwise - of a new product. But there is no doubt that product quality, appropriate to the consumer's expectations, is one of these.
Over the last year or so we have seen a huge increase in the awareness of product benchmarking as a tool to gauge and help manage product quality.
This might be because the market is as competitive as ever, as consumers collectively 'feel the pinch' in recessionary times. It might also have resulted from the big pushes for product reformulation - reductions in fat and salt, 'clean label' alternatives, removal of the Southampton six colours and so on.
Whatever the reason, companies increasingly want to know how their products compare with the competition in the market place, and this is where benchmarking can help - as long as it is done properly.
So what is product benchmarking? Well, it is basically completing a sensory evaluation of a selected product compared to similar competing products. The approach is flexible - depending on what the client wants. For example, we can test with an in-house expert panel using the Campden BRI benchmarking test protocol and scoring system, or alternatively we can select 'naive' consumers from our large consumer panel database.
Every day we invite consumers to Campden BRI to take part in a consumer test, following a test protocol designed by us in conjunction with the client. This ensures the clients find out what they need to know about how their product performs from a sensory perspective in the market place. We test new products prior to launch, as well as monitor quality or address issues that may have been raised by consumers with existing products.
It can be applied to all foods and drinks. Currently there is a lot of interest in testing ready meals, fresh produce, grocery items and also alcohol. We also have experience of non food household items.
To keep pace with demand we have significantly extended our facilities: we have added more space for the preparation of the products and more test booths where consumers can assess products in isolation. This was important in helping us to maintain complete flexibility - to vary the approach depending on what the client needs.
We have also just acquired state-of-the-art ´eye-tracking´ software - which will helps us explore the disconnect between what consumers say they do and what they actually do.
If you want to find out more about benchmarking, explore what it can offer your business or discuss the potential of the eye-tracking technology, please feel free to give me a call. You can also listen to our podcast and browse our web pages on marketplace knowledge.
Campden BRI's Product development guideline Provides best practice in the development of new food and drink products.
email: Janetta Hylands
Posted February 25 2011
More on benchmarking
Other blogs
