QUALITY IN THE MARKET - TECHNOLOGY PUSH VERSUS MARKET PULL

   To meet the changing demands of consumers, food technologists have to alter the way they are working. Instead of pushing new technologies and ingredients, they have to design the processes and formulations based on input from consumer, legal and nutritious wishes. This article presents a conceptual model for the flow of information leading to new products, processes or ingredients based on consumer wishes, demands and preferences. Results for different kinds of projects are shown and discussed with respect to the model. These results show that the knowledge of technology-push based projects can be used for market-pull design. The way the research is performed and the type of knowledge gathered are important. Emphasis is on the part of the chain concerning the work of food technologists.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files)