Processing special edition

German company Symrise develops a predictive model to improve success of milk chocolate

By Susanne Lang

- Last updated on GMT

'We wanted to understand what consumers like about their favorite milk chocolates,' said Symrise. Pic: Symrise
'We wanted to understand what consumers like about their favorite milk chocolates,' said Symrise. Pic: Symrise

Related tags Chocolate processing

The Symrise project named ‘Milk Chocolate Mania’ combines professional sensory and consumer research. The goal is to support producers of milk chocolate in creating the beloved chocolate taste.

‘Milk Chocolate Mania’ is supposed to tell in advance whether a type of chocolate will satisfy its target group even before it is launched onto market. The predictive model also allows producers to choose taste nuances so that chocolate bars ‘hits the right notes’ with its German consumers.

We wanted to understand what consumers like about their favorite milk chocolates​”, Katharina Scholz, product specialist for sweet products at Symrise, said.

German consumers love chocolate. According to CAOBISCO, the Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe, they consume about 11.1 kilograms of chocolate a year per capita, which means that average consumption is 1.4 kilograms higher than in Switzerland.

A recent survey by the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry shows 47% of respondents like milk chocolate.

Based on this knowledge, Symrise identified the chocolate profiles and the individual elements of the flavor profiles in two steps and conducted a consumer survey with 200 people within Germany.

It was primarily about finding out the taste and texture preferences of German consumers, the company said. In addition, experts from its in-house sensory department profiled the chocolates. With the help of the data generated, Symrise developed a predictive model that provides the basis for the company and its customers to improve the overall success of milk chocolate. This applies both to new and existing chocolate products.

Although the approach was developed especially for the German market. According to the Holzminden-headquartered company, the procedure is in principle transferable to other countries.

With ‘Milk Chocolate Mania' producers of milk chocolate can from now on use our knowledge about the market in Germany and the taste preferences of consumers​”, Scholz said. “Together, we want to create chocolate to melt for​.”

Related topics Processing & Packaging R&D Chocolate

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