02/20/08 The best taste test

A consumer taste test study was conducted recently that I would have liked to taken part in. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back after this to tell you about it. An article by Alan Newport in Wallaces Farmer magazine reported a new consumer taste test was completed comparing four different beef types  that kind of test is right up my taste buds. This blind taste test compared Australian grass-fed, Australian grain-fed, USDA Select and USDA Choice beef. Participants were asked to judge seven samples of beef for tenderness, flavor and juiciness. Over 1,000 consumers from Phoenix; Lubbock, Texas; and the Washington D.C.  Baltimore area were surveyed. These testers placed significant importance on flavor. Flavor seemed to be the main reason to move beef to a higher-valued level. Interestingly, I was surprised juiciness did not play a bigger role in consumer preference. One part of the study must not have been conducted totally blind since researchers found consumers evaluated the same pieces of meat differently if one was labeled and one was not. This reestablishes earlier findings that consumers' expectations of quality based on labeling can influence their actual evaluations of quality. Now here's the best part and it didn't surprise me  consumers preferred U.S. beef over all Australian beef in all categories, especially by flavor ranking. I never had a doubt. I'm Jeff Keane. Wallaces Farmer January 2008