{"id":30932,"date":"2025-02-11T13:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ffdu.com.ua\/?p=30932"},"modified":"2025-02-14T07:28:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T05:28:54","slug":"profesijnyj-dehustatsijnyj-konkurs-iak-tse-pratsiuie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ffdu.com.ua\/en\/2025\/02\/11\/profesijnyj-dehustatsijnyj-konkurs-iak-tse-pratsiuie\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional tasting competition. How it works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among all marketing tools, a professional tasting competition is one of the most effective for improving and promoting food products, but it is also one of the least common, as it requires a high level of organisation, expertise and responsibility. Because of this, the process itself remains little known to a wide audience. <\/span><\/p>\n

That's why today we're going to take a look behind the scenes of the Favorite Food & Drinks tasting competition and find out how the samples are judged and how to prepare your products to get the best results.<\/span><\/p>\n

The process of professional evaluation of organoleptic characteristics is a regulated procedure that requires special attention and compliance with special conditions and rules.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Organisation of space<\/b><\/p>\n

The tasting room should be bright, with access to daylight, well ventilated, free of drafts, odours, sounds and other factors that may distract tasters and affect the evaluation.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the tasting, tasters are seated separately from each other. The tables are set with carefully prepared crockery and other materials necessary for the professional evaluation of the tasting samples. Tasting glasses, cutlery, napkins, rinsing containers, and products to neutralise aftertaste (e.g. white bread or water) are laid out on the tables in advance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Product evaluation<\/b><\/p>\n

Tasters enter scores for each criterion in accordance with a particular food product into electronic score sheets, which not only ensures fast processing of scores but also prevents errors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sample preparation<\/b><\/p>\n

Before the tasting, each sample is assigned a unique number (code), and the samples are carefully arranged in a specific sequence to ensure maximum objectivity. Samples are served in portions without packaging. This prevents bias and subjective influence on the tasting results.<\/span><\/p>\n

Information support<\/b><\/p>\n

An important step is to announce the composition of the product, which is indicated on the label or packaging. At the same time, the label or packaging itself is not shown to the tasters to avoid additional associations or influences on perception. Some clarifications are possible, for example, technical details of the packaging - whether it is made of glass, PET, tetrapak, etc., as the packaging material can directly affect the organoleptic properties of the product or the pricing policy of the product, as the product may not be \"up to par\" for the premium segment, while the existing characteristics may be sufficient for the low price segment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Normative documentation<\/b><\/p>\n

Additionally, the regulatory document under which the product or beverage is manufactured is reported - it can be the State Standard of Ukraine (DSTU), technical specifications (TS) or a unique author's recipe. Tasters pay special attention to the product's compliance with the stated requirements of the regulatory document. This is one of the fundamental points for professional tasting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assessment process\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Each taster works individually and in the most impartial way possible. Personal scoring of each tasting sample involves a thorough study and analysis of organoleptic characteristics. All observations, impressions and scores are recorded in special electronic evaluation sheets, which allows not only to assess the quality of the product, but also to leave a detailed expert opinion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Samples do not compete or compare with each other. Each is evaluated separately, solely on its own merits. The tasters analyse each product individually, using clearly defined criteria and a rating scale, such as appearance, aroma, taste, texture, aftertaste and overall impression. This approach allows each sample to be evaluated independently of its competitors and ensures fairness of the results.<\/span><\/p>\n

This thorough and multi-stage approach guarantees maximum objectivity and professionalism of the tasting assessment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the TIPS for suppliers to prepare tasting samples for the competition:<\/b><\/p>\n

The careful preparation of tasting samples is the key to your success, as it guarantees the accuracy and objectivity of the tasting results. Improperly prepared samples can distort the perception of the product, which in turn will affect the correctness of the quality assessment. Therefore, every stage of preparation, from selecting samples to providing instructions to the organisers of the tasting competition, is important to ensure a fair assessment of the product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Checklist<\/b> to prepare product samples for a professional tasting competition:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Requirements for samples.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The products are provided only in consumer packaging with a label in Ukrainian, which contains all the mandatory requirements under Ukrainian law: product name, according to DSTU\/TU, manufacturer's name, product composition, storage, consumption, preparation, etc. and the term of sale, etc. For imported products, a translation into Ukrainian (sticker, etc.) is provided<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For new products,<\/b> those at the final stage of development and implementation - An official letter from the manufacturer stating that the product is at the final stage of implementation and is provided for tasting for control testing. The letter should include the name of the product, according to DSTU\/TU, the name of the manufacturer, product composition, storage, consumption, preparation, etc. and the term of sale, etc. It is also necessary to provide information describing the organoleptic characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each unit of product packaging must be labelled and contain the information required by the current legislation of Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Documentation.<\/b><\/p>\n