Sensory Testing
What is Sensory Testing and Why Use It?
✓ Data driven decision-making to reduce risk and uncertainty.
✓ Ask yourself what do you want to know about your product or the people utilizing it.
✓ On-site and off-site testing
At Beck Flavors, along with creating exceptional flavors, we also have extensive sensory testing capabilities that offer tasting and sensory feedback in new or existing product development. Our Sensory Software offers sensory evaluation, data analysis, and consumer testing/surveys providing feedback in the following ways:
Fine Tuning – You’re looking for acceptable levels of ingredient addition for optimization or cost effectiveness. How much strawberry flavor should be added to reach consumer acceptance?
Product Matching – Are people able to tell a difference between your product and the target?
Comparing to Competitor – What makes your product different than the competitors. Learn what attributes are present/missing and at what intensity.
View our Sensory 1-pager
View example of a RedJade Questionnare flow chart.
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Fruit Flavor Sensory Testing Case Study:
Mango On-Market Product Review
Summary:
The Beck Flavors team conducted an internal review of mango-flavored products to understand how our mango offerings compare to other flavors on the market. A focus group of R&D and marketing staff evaluated 35 on-market and 16 lab-made mango products across multiple categories (alcohol, sparkling water, candy, sauces, etc.).
Key Findings:
Popular mango products like Golden Road Mango Cart Beer, Truly Mango Hard Seltzer, and La Croix Sparkling Water are industry benchmarks due to their balanced or true-to-fruit flavor profiles.
Most products tested leaned toward “fantasy” mango rather than authentic mango flavor.
Mango flavor often clashes with vitamin-enhanced beverage bases.
Action Plan:
To better align with market preferences and support customer success, we developed a more versatile mango flavor “toolbox”. This allows us to present a range of mango profiles tailored to different applications and consumer expectations. Additionally, reassessing and potentially reducing the usage levels of existing formulations helps improve flavor balance and appeal. Benchmarking against industry-leading products such as La Croix and Truly provides valuable insights for aligning future flavor development with consumer favorites. Finally, exploring appealing mango blends—such as mango kiwi—and avoiding combinations with bases that introduce off-notes (like those found in vitamin-enhanced beverages) further enhances the chances of success in the market.
Developing a new beverage product and want to try our mango flavor?
Coffee Sensory Testing Case Study:
Enhancing Flavors – SCA Houston 2025
The coffee industry is navigating a period of uncertainty, marked by fluctuating tariffs, volatile pricing, and challenges in resource availability. In times like these, it’s more important than ever to explore innovative approaches that maintain the quality and flavor of coffee products. Leveraging alternatives such as natural flavor modifiers can help ensure a consistently enjoyable coffee experience despite external pressures.
At this year’s 2025 Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Houston, Beck Flavors Sensory & Analytical Scientist, Megan Samson, conducted a sensory tasting test comparing a Tanzania Robusta coffee to see if flavor modifiers helped improve the overall product preference.
A Natural Flavor Modifier designed to reduce bitterness and enhance sweetness was tested on a Robusta coffee from Tanzania. The only difference between Coffees A and B is the application of the flavor modifier. SCA participants (n=48) blindly tasted Robusta Coffees A and B with 65% agreeing that the coffee with the Flavor Modifier (Coffee B) was more drinkable largely due to its improved Finish and somewhat thanks to Bitterness improvement and Coffee Roast Flavor.
Check out the video below to watch highlights from our sensory test at SCA below:
Do you have a product that could benefit from one of Beck Flavors sensory tests? Have questions on where to get started? Our team is here to help.
