The Challenge:
A supplier of frozen products to a national chain of Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) wished to replace an ingredient in one of their top sellers due to sourcing constraints. This required P&K to help select the most promising substitute, then validate that the formula change did not negatively impact QSR customer appeal.
The P&K Solution:
P&K recruited QSR customers to participate in a taste test comprised of the current product and two alternative formulations. To accurately represent the restaurant taste experience, product was prepared by P&K using commercial fryers and in accordance with QSR specifications. Respondents evaluated products immediately out of the fryer and after a 20-minute hold in an insulated delivery bag to simulate a carry-out experience.
Following the central location test (CLT), the winning alternative was tested at a participating QSR location. P&K surveyed over 300 customers on two consecutive weeks to determine perceived quality of the current product (week 1) and the product prepared with the substitute ingredient (week 2).
The Outcome:
The CLT and the in-store test confirmed that the proposed ingredient substitution did not affect customer liking, purchase intent, and key sensory attributes known to drive quality. The frozen food supplier was able to implement the formulation change with confidence that they would be able to continue to grow their QSR business.