TRAINING of SENSORY PANELS / DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS PANELS

With over 30 years of experience and having designed and implemented numerous and diverse sensory and descriptive programs nationally and internationally,
IRIS: International Resources for Insights and Solutions, LLC (IRIS ) works with its clients to design and establish best-in-class sensory descriptive panel training programs

IRIS works with its clients in these capacities: 

• The design of new sensory descriptive programs and complete implementation of the program from beginning to end, OR
• Support to panel leaders/sensory professionals experienced in descriptive analysis in completing selected activities of the entire panel training (e.g., design only, screening of assessors/sensory panelists only, design of training exercises only, etc.), OR
• Consultation to experienced panel leaders/sensory professionals in selected descriptive analysis services, as needed 

As the developer of the A⁵daptive Profile Method®,  IRIS focuses on the following aspects to design and implement a best-in-class technical descriptive panel

Screening of Assessors/Sensory Panelists

→ Assessors (Sensory panelists)

• Assessment of needs
• Advantages and disadvantages of using employees vs. local residents, and characteristics of the panel pool

→ Recruitment of assessors (Sensory panelists)

• Design of  the A⁵daptive Profile Method® pre-screener to gather the required participants’ information
• Review of information to select the best candidates for the acuity screening

→  The A⁵daptive Profile Method® screening and selection of assessors
(sensory panelists)

•  Design of specific acuity screening exercises relevant to the program to be implemented to assess candidates’ qualifications as sensory panelists/assessors
•  Design of other activities and tests needed to explore assessors’ non acuity qualifications and personalities
•  Selection of the best members for the sensory descriptive panel.
  

Design of Best-In-Class Descriptive Analysis Programs and Training of Assessors/Sensory Panelists using
The  A⁵daptive Profile Method®

Program Design

• • Assessments of needs  and objectives to design the descriptive program and select the parameters that will best meet the company’s objectives, specifically,
  • – Needed staff training
  • – Type of lexicon(s) to develop and use
  • – Discussion and selection of scaling approach
  •  – Selection and adaptation of quantitative/intensity references and anchors
• • The design of training components and exercises

Training sessions
Lead the sessions to train the panel on:Fundamentals of descriptive analysis and tools required for effective product evaluation

• Qualitative component/ sensory lexicons: Philosophy of lexicon development and generation of the best sensory descriptive lexicons for the product categories of interest
• Quantitative component/ scaling frame of reference
  

Practice sessions

• Design relevant sessions to allow assessors to apply learned concepts and advance their knowledge and skills in product evaluation
• Monitor panel learning progress

 Sensory descriptive panel validation

Design a validation study to assess the panel’s skills, level of training, product evaluation abilities, panel reliability and other panel performance parameters

Contact us for more details on descriptive programs and sensory panel trainings or to explore how to implement the The A⁵daptive Profile Method® or elements of this descriptive method in your existing descriptive program.