Statistical Methods for Defining Homogeneous Merchandising Categories for Foods:The Case of Savoury and Sweet Bakery Products

Some basic statistical methods (PCA,cluster analisys)have been applied to the food sector to identify homogeneous merchandising categories,because new food products are introduced into the market,having such quality features(all inevitably measurable) to make difficult the task to set clear categories.The mehods have been applied to savoury and sweet bakery products,and meaningful results have been obtained by utilising in the elaborations quality factors able to achieve them. By introducing into the elboration an increasing number of factors,the homogeinity of the category increases.