What do Consumers Really Like?

Berry Innovators will study berry characteristics that consumers state they prefer during consumer sensory testing. Everything about the process is consumer driven to ensure Driscoll’s is growing berries with flavor that the consumers are going to like.

To help identify flavors that are responsible for consumer preference, Berry Innovators take selections of berries that consumers indicate they enjoy, and blend them together. By looking at the mixture, Berry Innovators can begin to understand the underlying compounds that consumers like the most. This process allows Driscoll’s to identify a fingerprint of the chemical structure so that breeders can identify which berries have superior flavor with the best texture, flavor, size and shape.

But what makes Driscoll’s berries really stand out? To ensure Driscoll’s fruit is especially delicious, Driscoll’s thinks about flavor even beyond the five modalities of taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory). So for Driscoll’s berries, the five types of taste are just the beginning. Flavor comes from all your senses acting together. Flavor can also come from texture, from sound, from olfaction (smell) and from color. So Berry Innovators don’t just think about a berry as “sweet,” but as one that might be jammy or citrusy, one that might be crunchy, or one that is bright red.