Another example is fat bloom, which is negatively related to
chocolate, sweet and bitter aroma, to snap and hardness, to density
and heterogeneity of the filling, to chocolate, bitter and sour flavour
and aftertaste of the filled chocolate. The negative relation
to the different aromas and flavours is due to storage. Fat bloom
occurs after prolonged storage, causing the intensity of aromas
and flavours to decrease. This relationship is rather indirect. The
recrystallization that is causing the fat bloom has an impact on
the heterogeneity and the density of chocolate fillings. This recrystallization
will also affect the snap and hardness of the filled chocolates.
These are only two of the interactions that are visible in the
roof. The higher the knowledge of the engineers, the more detailed
this roof will be and the better these relations will be defined.
Technical priorities/benchmarks and targets. The target values for
the sensory characteristics are the mean values that the trained
panel has determined during QDA for the filled chocolate on which
the HOQ is made, V2Hu-fresh (Table 4). For the process parameters,
the recording of these parameters during the production of
V2Hu-fresh are included. The difficulty to accomplish changes in
these attributes and parameters is given on a scale of 0 (Easy to
accomplish) to 10 (Extremely difficult) and is based on thorough
literature study. The absolute weight is the sum of the multiplication
of the importance ratings of each CA with the corresponding
values in the relationship matrix for this attribute. After ranking
of these absolute weights, a relative weight is assigned to every
attribute.
What can the House of Quality teach us in the case of filled chocolates
The complete HOQ, for the four variants is built on the product
V2Hu-fresh (Fig. 3). From the relative weight, it can be concluded
that flavour is the most important criteria for a consumer in relation
to the sensory attributes of a filled chocolate. From the competitive
analysis it is clear that the main differences between the
filled chocolates are found in appearance and texture, and to a lesser
extent in aroma and flavour. Based on these results, one might
conclude that there is little difference in the liking scores for the
four filled chocolates. However, this is contradicted by the results
given in Table 3. These results show that the liking of the filled
chocolates decreases after blooming of the filled chocolates. This
information cannot be captured based on the way the HOQ is commonly
presented. This can be solved by adding the information of
overall liking in the room of competitive analysis.
The target values coming from the sensory analysis indicated
that consumers expect a high standard for texture attributes such
as smoothness, density of the filling and heterogeneity of the filling.
As a food producer, it is therefore important to keep this in
mind when producing a filled chocolate. Next to that, the attributes
gloss, intensity of color and snap have high target values. From the
roof of the HOQ, it is clear that these attributes are related to each
other and to the tempering of the chocolate. Thus, tempering can
be viewed as a critical production parameter when producing or
improving a filled chocolate.
Knowing that flavour is the most important factor for consumers
in their acceptance of filled chocolates, it is important to make a
filled chocolate with flavour intensities that are just right for the
consumer. From the target values, the intensity of the fruity, chocolate
and sweet flavour needs to be high, followed by a lower, but
recognizable, bitter flavour and a touch of a spicy flavour. Aftertaste
of the filled chocolates should be clearly present according
to what the trained panel indicated for the most preferred filled
chocolate.
The results of the relative weight in the last matrix of the technical
properties indicates that blooming is the first thing that needs
to be controlled. Knowing that this is also the most difficult parameter
to change, the HOQ indicates that this as the biggest challenge
for filled chocolate producers today. Further research on this topic
is necessary to improve the production process for filled chocolates
and to increase the storage time before blooming occurs.
It is possible that the food producer wants to incorporate more
information in the HOQ. As stated in the introduction, the company
can expand the HOQ to fit their needs, as it is possible to custombuild
the HOQ. To the column of CAs, they can add other columns
for histories of consumer complaints. Some may want to add data
from the sales force to the list of CAs to represent strategic decisions.
In the room of the ECs, the team can add the costs of servicing
these complaints or a row to add the technical difficulty of the
ECs.