Consumer preference structures for traditional Spanish cheeses and their relationship with sensory properties

Eleven different cheeses were sensory profiled by a trained panel using a previously defined methodology. Using the same set of samples a group of 300 consumers resident in the Basque Country (three different regions: Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and Navarra (North of Spain), scored their preferences in a blind-test and taking into account their concepts on the samples. It was observed that there were important differences between consumer concept and sensory preference responses for most of the cheeses, indicating different focusing at the time of assessing preference. Generally, Idiazabal cheese concept was very similar to what consumers defined as the ideal cheese. Sensory descriptive terms nutty, buttery (flavor), sweet, smoky, rennett (odor), firmness and granularity presented a significant correlation coefficient with preference scores, although they were different among the four considered regions and the trained panel. The information obtained in this study could help researchers and marketing professionals elucidate strategies to approach firm products to ideal profiled cheeses. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.