Givaudan unlocks consumer food emotions through neuroscience humanizing platform

27 Nov 2023 --- Givaudan has inked an agreement with neuroscience company Thimus, the developer of its TBox platform, which provides an integrated collection of explicit and implicit data for exploring how humans experience food. The new agreement adds to Givaudan’s growing set of digital capabilities designed to deliver unique consumer insights and shape the future of food.

The Swiss flavor house’s collaboration with Thimus is the first extensive use of the TBox platform in the food industry, resulting in Givaudan’s new program, Food Emotions.

Food “redesigned”
Food products are being redesigned to meet new expectations and sustainability, health, quality and emotion are crucial considerations in this re-invention. 

Understanding and responding to consumer preferences has never been more important, but there’s often a gap between what consumers say and their actual experience and behavior. 

Neuroscience may be the key to closing that gap, underscores Givaudan. A portable tool developed by Thimus is used to gain a fuller understanding of the consumer experience.

Thimus’ TBox provides participants with a headset to wear during taste tests and only requires them to participate in a focus group or answer a questionnaire. 

Exploring neuroscience 
The headset records brain signals, which are then processed by validated algorithms to measure four key mental states, including frontal asymmetry, engagement, cognitive workload and relaxation. 

Using proprietary software and a cloud-based database for data analysis and retrieval, the tool can deliver insights that were previously unavailable or unreliable.

“Neuroscience has the unique ability to reveal how consumers truly feel about a product throughout the eating or drinking experience,” explains Fabio Campanile, global head of Science & Technology for Taste & Wellbeing at Givaudan.

Givaudan’s collaboration with Thimus is the first use of the TBox platform in the food industry.“The collaboration marks a significant milestone in consumer understanding. It has the power to revolutionize how we co-create with our customers, increasingly satisfying consumers and transforming the way the world eats while enabling more nutritious food choices.”

Thimus’ founder and CEO, Mario Ubiali, adds: “We were immediately excited about the prospect of working with Givaudan because we see such a strong alignment in our strategy of transforming food systems through a food experience lens.”

“At Thimus, we’re humanizing neuroscience and using it to redesign the foods we eat. We’re eager to support Givaudan in gaining an in-depth understanding of the motivations, culture and emotions that underlie these experiences.”

Successful roll-out
Givaudan has used the Thimus technology extensively in several customer projects with very successful results. 

For example, Givaudan used Thimus technology in recent consumer tests on botanical soft drinks, comparing two prototypes. The results revealed that consumers implicitly found one concept significantly more satisfying than the other. 

The implicit data gathered from Thimus was used to pinpoint a negative reaction during the taste phase in the second product. The team was then able to identify a successful route to optimize the soft drink by improving mouthfeel. 

In this instance, the problem and its resolution could not have been uncovered by examining declarative data alone.

The technology will gradually be rolled out within Givaudan and will be available for selective customers in some regions.

Foreseeing consumer trends
In May, the company launched its Customer Foresight, marketed as a proprietary futurescaping platform built in-house at Givaudan’s Digital Factory in Paris, France. The platform leverages Givaudan’s human expertise, big data and AI to anticipate F&B challenges, foresee consumer expectations and develop food experiences.

Earlier this month, Givaudan and Canvas8 revealed five macro trends set to transform the F&B industry. The companies jointly presented five trends that they predict will impact the F&B world in the next two to three years, including “Green For Me,” “Restorative Care,” and “Augmented Assistance.”

Edited by Elizabeth Green