the Taste and Nutrition Company, has released an interactive consumer preference simulator to supplement their latest white paper on sweetening agents, “Sensibly Sweet.” The proprietary preference simulator utilizes US consumer research data to help industry professionals understand the consumer-preferred combination of three nutritional details – the type of sweetening agent, calorie count and protein count – across six product categories.

Kerry measured consumer perceptions of 17 sweetening agents to understand consumers’ preference surrounding sweetening agents across six product categories – sports drinks, carbonated soft drinks, ice cream, flavored alcoholic malt beverages, granola bars, and cookies. In their research, Kerry also investigated consumer purchase decision drivers when presented with a packaged product, examining which combination of sweetening agent type, calorie count and protein content were most preferred on an ingredient deck and nutritional panel.

With the simulator, users can choose a product category and adjust the sweetening agent type, calorie count and protein level for up to three product combinations, determining the most consumer-preferred combination in their results for a consumer-led approach to developing.