A consumer study of fresh juices containing berry fruits

BACKGROUND: Consumer science techniques are proposed here to support the development of innovative fresh juices designed to exploit the sensory characteristics and nutritional advantages of berry fruits and to meet the needs of modern consumers, who increasingly buy `ready to eat' products to save time, without abandoning a healthy diet. RESULTS: A series of consumer tests were conducted on 25 juices created by mixing one of the five berry fruits investigated with five different base juice variants. A high content of polyphenols and anthocyanins characterises these mixes, especially those based on pomegranate. Independently of the added berry fruit, the most successful recipes were the mixes with pineapple and blood orange, characterised by a `balanced' proportion of sweet and sour components whereas the least appreciated were those based on pomegranate. Consumer habits and opinions were also recorded and consumer groups were identified by clustering variables: age, education and juice consumption were shown to be important factors in consumer choice. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a useful insight into production and marketing strategies for a new juice line that could be accompanied by the key message: `Just fresh fruit: all the pleasure and nutritional intake of fresh fruit in an appealing drink'.