K. Dürrschmid, E. Buchinger, M. Wendelin, W. Kneifel

Department of Food Sciences and Technology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna

In a project which was funded by the Viennese Centre of Innovation and Technology a training programme was developed in cooperation with the traditional and well known Viennese manufacturer of wafers and chocolate products Joseph Manner Ltd. In several discussions the status quo of sensory method know how in the company was assessed. Based on this information a training programme was developed to improve the perceptional skills of the involved sensory test persons, and to improve the methodological skills of the persons designing and running the tests. Screening tests were performed with 60 employees to find new persons for the sensory testings in the company. The training was performed for selected 40 individuals. The test methods used in the training were designed to show the way to new solutions of existing sensory problems of  Manner. Sensory evaluation methods were divided in the modules: new product development, quality assurance, consumer tests. As a consequence of the intense training, which lasted for five weeks, the perceptional performance of the sensory panel of Manner improved, the motivation of the existing panel members became better, more employees committed to the sensory tasks in every day production and the methodological level of the company increased significantly.