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American wineries have taken marketing steps toward attracting consumers. They employ tasting scores to augment and solidify market share. According to Oster (1999) and Porter (1985), competitive advantage comes from either cost advantages or product differentiation. American wineries use tasting scores they receive from experts as the basis for product differentiation and raising prices. To achieve competitive advantage, the product must be seen as important and an improvement in the market, while simultaneously lacking imitation. This article looks at how tasting scores given by wine experts may affect American firms' competitive advantage, barring entry by importing rivals, such as Australian firms. If these tasting scores provide product importance and improvements, while delivering a product that lacks imitation, competitive advantage may result. If importers to the US realise this, these firms can undermine American advantages, increase competition, and gain market share through their own competitive advantages.

The purpose of this article is to review the use of the word terroir by print media in France using a multi-method approach. The objective is to uncover whether and how the media frames terroir-marketed products as being qualitatively superior to non-terroir products.

Every issue of five print magazines in France was analyzed over the period of one year. All references to terroir were coded as well as all tasting notes with and without terroir references. > 6,500 tasting notes and 800 uses of terroir in wine and food-related text from > 3,800 pages in 30 issues were identified and analyzed.

The results show that although it is not a frequently used word, terroir in tasting notes leads to significantly higher scores and prices for wines than when terroir is not included in the note. A further analysis reveals that terroir is most often related to subjective experiences of taste.

Wine managers should often use the word terroir in their press releases and communication pieces. However, the dimension of terroir that brand managers put forward in their communication pieces will influence the way in which the media frame their product.

Prior to this research there were no empirical results regarding how the media uses terroir. This research contributes to the growing body of research that seeks to understand the value of terroir as a marketing attribute.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of information about alcohol content, organic labelling and packaging on consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) of non-alcoholic sparkling mock wines.

In a two-step study, the consumer’s expectations and overall liking of two novel brands of mock wines were investigated by focus groups followed by a common hedonic test combined with a choice experiment aimed at measuring consumer WTP. A total of 240 consumers were assigned to two tasting groups of equal size: all were presented at least one brand of mock wine, while drinkers also tasted a familiar brand of low-alcohol sweet sparkling wine. A paper-and-pencil choice experiment followed the tasting sessions.

The results demonstrate that participants in blind or manipulated “informed” conditions are not able to discriminate among mock wines and wine, whereas significant differences in preferences for brands under investigation appeared when labels and other information were disclosed. In effect, drinkers and non-drinkers did not differ in hedonic scores of mock wines. While younger participants exhibited the highest scores in blind liking, the overall expected liking is significantly higher for non-drinkers and women if compared, respectively, to drinkers and men. WTP for mock wines is influenced by taste, glass bottle packaging and the organic label, while mock-wine colour is not relevant.

Although limited in sample size and representativeness, this study has brought some new insights into the consumption of non-alcoholic mock wines. In this study, a significant influence of blind sensory liking on WTP is demonstrated. This result has theoretical implications: while the effect of product information on WTP is well established, the relationship between hedonic scores and WTP – while theoretically consistent – is not so clear-cut in the literature. Further research is needed to confirm/disconfirm these findings.

Sparkling no-alcohol mock wines, despite their sweetness, appear not different in taste to medium-to-low APV (7.5 per cent) sweet wines.

The paper suggests that marketing of mock (no-alcohol) wines needs careful branding to elicit significant hedonic effects, while interacting sensory (blind liking) scores with price information in choice models may help to represent taste heterogeneity in WTP estimates in a better way.

The purpose of this exploratory consumer research study was to examine demographic and behavioral characteristics and motivations of wine travelers on the recently established Iowa Wine Trail in rural Northeast Iowa. An array of data on visitor lifestyles, interests, attitudes and values can provide more powerful and actionable research information than demographics alone. Equipped with an understanding of visitor motivations, wineries and vineyards can provide their customers the experience they want and expect, and not products and services they are assumed to desire.

Data for this study were collected using a questionnaire-based survey administered at three participating wineries over the period of April-November 2005.

The demographic profile of visitors on the Iowa Wine Trail falls within a common stereotype of a wine tourist: middle aged (36-55 years old), highly educated (college or postgraduate), in the moderate to high income bracket (higher than the median household income in Iowa), living in close proximity to the Iowa Wine Trail (mostly Iowa residents). The main motives for visiting the wineries were (in order by mean scores) “to taste wine”, “to enjoy the scenery”, “to have a good time with friends and family”, “to relax”, “to support local wine producers”, and “to taste locally produced foods”. This finding supports the statement that wine tourists are often drawn by the whole “local experience package”, and not only by the wine product itself.

Findings of this study provide demographic and behavioral characteristics and motivations of wine tourists in rural Northeast Iowa only and should not be generalized to other rural areas.

The Iowa Wine Trail attracts typical wine customers, but also younger visitors and females. Rather high incidence of repeat visitors for a trail that is still in its infancy (52 percent), with the mean number of previous visits being 2.64. Importance of word of mouth and eMarketing: over 40 percent of visitors to the Iowa Wine Trail based their choice on word of mouth (to include prior recommendations, suggestions, or reputation), and almost a third of travelers indicated utilizing web sites for information seeking – a number that is higher when compared to other specialized markets in Iowa. The Iowa Wine Trail appeals both to stereotypical wine tourists and those visitors who are not primarily involved with the wine product but nonetheless still visit wineries. Power of rural ambience and appeal of the Iowa landscape: while wine tasting appeared to be the main motive of visiting the wineries, scenery and landscape of the Upper Mississippi River, along with the opportunity to enjoy time with friends and family and taste local foods, scored similarly high.

While demographic characteristics of wine tourists have been explored, few studies focused on visitor motivations. In addition, most of wine tourism research has focused on established and functioning wine regions/appellations. Not much is known about the emerging wine culture in rural Midwestern states embracing opportunities of wine and tourism development, en route to diversification from traditional agriculture.

The purpose of this study was to examine hedonic hunger at the end of the Ramadan fasting.

Data were collected by the Power of Food Scale (PFS), Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) and the Visual Analogue Scale. All data were taken twice at the beginning and end of Ramadan fasting.

A total number of 105 volunteers (43.8% female and 56.2% male) participated in a cross-sectional study. Ramadan fasting associated with PFS food tasted sub-factor, whereas no association was found on PFS aggregate and other PFS domain factors. Participants had higher PFS food tasted domain score at the end of the Ramadan fasting than before Ramadan fasting (p < 0.001). Total FCQ-T score as well as all sub-domains did not differ significantly. Females desired to consume carbonated beverages more, whereas in male (p = 0.04), ice cream was the most craved food.

The findings of this study provide data to the literature about the relation between Ramadan fasting and hedonic hunger. Ramadan fasting appears to have an influence on pleasure at first bite. The effect of Ramadan fasting on hedonic hunger should be tested with larger samples and controlled trials.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of integrating “Licorice powder” into curd balls on their storage stability under refrigeration conditions. Through this examination, this study aims to evaluate the potential effects of licorice powder on extending the shelf life, maintaining quality attributes and preserving the overall stability of curd balls when stored at refrigeration temperatures.

Licorice powder, in varying quantities (1%, 2% and 3%), was incorporated into curd balls alongside a control group lacking licorice (0%). These batches were subsequently stored for 25 days under refrigeration at a temperature of 4 ± 1ºC, using aerobic packaging conditions. During this storage period, the samples were regularly monitored and analyzed for various parameters to assess changes in their properties and qualities.

The findings indicated that in the treatment groups, pH and titratable acidity were notably lower than those in the control group (p = 0.05). Curd balls enriched with licorice powder exhibited significantly higher levels of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2-2-azinobis-3ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid and total phenolic contents compared to the control (p = 0.05). Furthermore, curd balls containing licorice powder displayed notably lower levels of peroxide, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and free fatty acids in comparison to the control (p = 0.05). Among all samples, T3 (3%) demonstrated significantly less microbial growth (p = 0.05) than the other groups. Conversely, the sensory panel rated T2 significantly higher than T3 (p = 0.05).

The investigation highlights that curd balls enriched with 2.0% licorice powder demonstrated significant efficacy in preventing the deterioration of physicochemical attributes, enhancing antioxidant capacity, restraining lipid oxidation, curbing microbial growth and ultimately exhibiting the most favorable organoleptic properties among the tested variations. This finding underscores the potential of incorporating 2.0% licorice powder as an effective agent for bolstering the storage stability and overall quality of curd balls during refrigerated storage.

Whey products have conventionally been professed as a means of reducing ingredient costs. The authentic benefits of adding whey products are the enhanced worth resulting from flavor, texture and nutritional improvements as well as nutraceutical or health‐enhancing payback. Therefore, the present study aims to isolate and characterize suitable starter cultures for the production of wheyghurt drink.

Keeping in view all the benefits of yoghurt technology this study was planned to isolate the starter cultures and optimize the conditions for the production of wheyghurt drink. The starter cultures (Lactobacillus delbruceckii ssp. Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) were isolated from the yoghurt and further characterized on the basis of their morphological and biochemical characteristics. The wheyghurt drink prepared from starter cultures with varying starter culture concentrations (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 percent) was analyzed for the physicochemical and sensory characteristics to explore the potential of wheyghurt drink.

During storage, color, flavor, taste and overall acceptability were affected significantly. But the interaction between treatments and storage was found non‐significant to all the sensory parameters. At zero day maximum score (7.40) for overall acceptability was recorded for T₃ and minimum score (5.60) was awarded to T₄. After five, ten and 15 days of storage, judges observed a slight decline in overall acceptability in all wheyghurt drink samples. Hence it was concluded that wheyghurt drink sample T₃ obtained maximum scores regarding the organoleptic evaluation and remained the best.

The key to growth is a continuous evaluation and modification of the product to match consumer expectations. Currently there are many apparent benefits that result from incorporating selected whey products into yogurt formulas. The starter cultures for the production of fermented whey products are not presently produced in Pakistan and are imported for industrial use. The use of LAB as starter culture may help to improve the quality and shelf life of the whey products.

The research is useful for food manufacturers in order to develop functional food products for consumers. Understanding consumer needs and preferences is critical to successful product development and enhancing marketing values of a product. Nutritionally improved foods, such as wheyghurt over the conventional counterpart, will be highly successful in the marketplace. Consumers will prefer such kinds of foods because they are more conscious about their health and such foods provide them with what they desire, i.e. health benefits with good nutrition.

The research aims to study the feasibility and acceptability trials of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) substituted popular Indian foods.

Four Indian food items namely chapati, thepla, dhokla and patra were prepared. Wheat flour in chapati and thepla was substituted with FOS at four levels, i.e. 3 g, 5 g, 8 g and 10 g. Bengal gram in dhokla and patra was substituted with FOS at 3 levels, i.e. 5, 8 and 10 g. Ten semi‐trained panel members evaluated the recipes in triplicates using ten point numerical scoring test and difference test.

A significant reduction in all organoleptic attributes of chapati and thepla (p<0.001) was observed with the increase in level of substitution up to 10 g. A non‐significant increase in all the attributes was observed with the increase in level of FOS substitution in patra. For chapatis the most affected attribute were chewability, breakability and overall acceptability. For thepla there was 8.13 percent reduction in the overall acceptability. Dhokla and patra were acceptable at all the three levels of substitution. Using difference test a significant difference (p<0.05, p<0.01) was observed in the color and taste of chapatti. For thepla significant difference was observed in the organoleptic attributes like color and overall acceptability. However, no significant difference was noticed for dhokla and patra substituted with FOS.

The present study has opened a new avenue for preparation of commonly consumed FOS incorporated Indian food products.

This is original research which can benefit general and specific population.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nutritional composition and the acceptability of value-added products prepared from the dehydrated leaf mixture of underutilized green leafy vegetables (GLVs). GLVs are dense in micronutrients and are of great importance to the nutrition of population in developing countries. Nutritive value of commonly consumed GLVs has been studied extensively, but there is limited information available on nutritive value and acceptability of unconventional leafy vegetables.

The nutritional potential and acceptability of leaf mixtures (LMs) prepared from the less-utilized leaves of beet root (Beta vulgaris), carrot (Daucus carota), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) and turnip (Brassica rapa) which are usually discarded or are used as animal fodder were analyzed in the present study. The LM was prepared by mixing the powders of above-mentioned greens in a definite ratio (1:2:1:1). The LM was analyzed for the proximate, mineral composition (Ca, P, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and Mg) and antinutritional factors (oxalate and phenols). In total, 20 different recipes with different levels (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 per cent) of LM incorporation were prepared and were assessed for quality on the basis of sensory attributes.

The LM contains appreciable amount of proteins, fat, fiber, carbohydrate and calorific value, mineral elements and generally low levels of antinutrients. Products were well-accepted to the level of 10 per cent. Protein, iron and calcium content was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the LM-incorporated recipes, and the increase was directly proportional to the level of LM incorporated.

Dehydrated GLVs are concentrate source of micronutrients and can be used in product formulation. Value addition of traditional products with dehydrated GLVs can be advocated as a feasible food-based approach to combat micronutrient deficiencies.

The purpose of this current investigation is to evaluate the effect of adding different levels of cheeseweed Malva parviflora L. mallow leaves powder (MPLP) on the nutritional and quality characteristics of bread.

Wheat flour was partially replaced with MPLP at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% levels to obtain the wheat– MPLP composite flour. Chemical composition, phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl of wheat flour and MPLP were determined. Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of bread enriched with various levels of MPLP were evaluated.

MPLP contains 23.9% of protein, 10.1% of crude fiber and 9.8% of ash, respectively. MPLP had a significantly higher concentration of micronutrients than wheat flour. The content of total phenolics, flavonoids as well as free radical scavenging activity of MPLP were 17.6, 38.2 and 6.0 fold, respectively, higher compared to wheat flour. Protein content in bread samples increased with the addition of the MPLP in a range of 1.2%–6.6%. The increasing replacement of MPLP in the composite flours resulted in progressively higher dietary fiber and ash contents for fortified bread samples. The higher level of MPLP reduced the specific volume of fortified breads. The highest scores for the sensory attributes were noted for bread samples fortified with 2% and 3% of MPLP, whereas the lowest scores for bread samples fortified with 4% and 5% MPLP.

Supplementation of wheat bread with different levels of MPLP resulted in significant increases in macro and microelements of fortified breads.

Supplementation of wheat bread with different levels of cheeseweed Mallow (Malva parviflora L.) leaves powder resulted in significant increases in macro and microelements of fortified breads.