Sense It, a proprietary taste language created by Givaudan is celebrating its 30th anniversary. First developed in 1993, it has become a universal and standardised language used around for food experience characterisation, differentiation, and product innovation.
Sense It has grown since its inception, with the company regularly adding new descriptors to the language. What began as a local tool for flavour characterisation has been transformed into a universal language with descriptors for flavour, taste and mouthfeel.
As the language has grown, the company noted, so has its ability to describe up-and-coming categories, such as plant-based meat.
“Consumers know if they like or do not like a product, but have difficulty explaining why. Sense It helps bridge the gap between what consumers perceive and what they are able to express,” explained Fabio Campanile, Global Head of Science & Technology Taste & Wellbeing at Givaudan. “Over the years the language has been expanded into new, important categories and so it continues to be very valuable in helping guide our customers with their product creation.”
Sense It language allows usage in virtual environments when alternatives to in-person consumer testing are needed. Trained panels at Givaudan were able to use Sense It along with their proprietary holistic profiling method to provide customers with highly accurate information on consumer perception without going to consumers.
Looking ahead, digitisation will play a key role in simplifying the language’s increasing complexity and creating a seamless experience for users.
“We’re creating a new set of digital tools that will help the user put their sensory perception of a product, such as a plant-based burger, into descriptive words that convey the full experience, including mouthfeel, colour and taste,” added Fabio.
Sense It will greatly benefit from this digitisation, said the company, but it’s also playing a pivotal role in helping AI tools and digital tools become more effective.
By translating consumer perception into language, Sense It provides a vocabulary which can be used digitally to communicate about the senses, supporting and enabling our next generation of language-based AI applications.
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Caitlin Gittins
Editor, International Confectionery
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