Table Talk

Between 70 and 85% of new food products fail in their first year. And the reason often isn't the nutrition, it's the mouthfeel.When manufacturers remove sugar, fat or calories to make food healthier, they risk destroying the very sensory experience that makes consumers reach for that product again. And consumers, it turns out, are unreliable witnesses to their own preferences, saying they want something "lighter" while consistently choosing products that are thick, smooth and dense. Bridging that gap between what consumers say and what they actually want is one of the most underestimated challenges in food innovation.In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, made in partnership with Tate & Lyle, we explore the science, strategy and commercial implications of mouthfeel. Professor Charles Spence from Oxford University's Cross Modal Research Laboratory opens with a masterclass on multisensory perception, explaining how retronasal aroma accounts for as much as 95% of what we think we're tasting, and