to be held Spain is being greeted with high expectations by the consumer industry with more than 100 national and international enterprises participating
The conference will take place in Madrid from May 25 to 26. There, experts will present the latest knowledge and developments on sensory evaluation and its applications in different industrial sectors.
Madrid, May 18, 2005 - What makes cereals taste the way they do? How does an automotive manufacturer decide what material to use for the interior design of a new model? How do people in the telecommunications industry choose the sounds of mobile phones? How are cosmetic products tested on consumers before they are released to the marketplace? What kind of sensory techniques are employed to control food quality? How can time courses and degree of intensity be measured when it comes to describing the release of taste and smell by fizzy tablets? All these topics and more will be discussed and analysed during the 1st International Conference on Sensory Evaluation, which will be held on May 25 to 26 in Madrid, Hotel NH Príncipe de Vergara, c/ Príncipe de Vergara, 92.
Organised by the Spanish private association ainia centro tecnológico in conjunction with and at request of the European Sensory Network (ESN), the aim of this conference is to create a forum for discussion concerning the different methods used for sensory evaluation. Sensory science is a new and quickly expanding working field for the consumer industry. It aims at systematically and scientifically studying the human responses to sensory characteristics of products. It is especially valuable to the business enterprises in three key fields: quality control, product development, and consumer research.
Market research by sensory evaluation methods is relatively new in Spain, as it is in many other European countries. So far only a few organisations are specialised in this field. Nevertheless, as is confirmed by the great interest in this forum – more than 100 participants have announced their participation – there is an increasing demand by the industry to become aquainted with and learn how to use theses techniques.
The speakers at the conference will give 16 presentations on a variety of topics. The presentation will be grouped into four sessions. In a 5th session three workshops will be conducted simultaneously. In these workshops sensory evaluation experts from companies such as Nokia (Finland), Peugeot Citröen (France), DSM Productos Nutricionales (Spain), Institut de Recherche Pierre Fabre (France) as well as representatives of institutions with a focus on food products such as the Danish Technological Institute, VTT Biotechnology (Finland), ACCE (Canada), Icelandic Fisheries Laboratorios and ainia centro tecnológico (Spain) will present practical case studies.
The promoter of this initiative, the European Sensory Network (ESN) brings together 18 member organisations acting in 14 European countries, and two non-European countries. All ESN members have a high standard of competence in sensory analysis within their respective countries. ESN is promoting the collaboration among European and international research institutions involved in sensory and consumer sciences and in the practical application of these methods by the industry.
ESN has chosen ainia centro tecnológico as the organiser of this event due to the importance of its projects and because of the important role of this organisation as a distributor of knowledge on the latest sensory evaluation techniques in Spain.
ainia centro tecnológico is a private non-profit association formed by companies in the food manufacturing industry and related sectors. The purpose of the centre is to strengthen the competitiveness of the companies through innovation and anticipating consumer needs, and to present itself as a professional organisation and as a well accepted partner for qualified collaboration.
For more information please contact:
Marga Fernández
Telfs. + 34 96 / 362 61 63 or + 34 629 / 560 126
