Development of Consumer Acceptable Products using CUB Analysis: An Example with burgers from Dairy Cattle

In this work, Combination of Uniform and shifted Binomial random variables (CUB) models were used to understand the role played by liking/disliking toward the sensory meat characteristics and the uncertainty of the respondents. The detection of significant similarities and differences among sensory evaluations was proposed by comparing the parameters estimated by CUB models with the aid of multidimensional scaling (MDS). The MDS approach was also proposed to confirm the presence of the two latent variables – feeling and uncertainty – estimated by CUB models. In particular, the sensory characteristics of a conventional hamburger and a new one produced from dairy cattle at the end of their milk production, properly mixed with chicken and turkey meat were evaluated and compared. This approach resulted useful to understand which hamburger was preferred and why. In particular, the results showed a good level of acceptance for both hamburgers, with a slight preference toward the new product in terms of feeling and uncertainty. The outcomes of the analysis also provided indications to meat producers oriented to exploiting dairy cattle for slaughter and could give suggestions for bottom‐up sustainable food policy implications. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In this study, an integrated approach based on CUB models is proposed to evaluate and compare the sensory characteristics of a conventional hamburger and a new one produced from dairy cattle. The conclusions achieved suggested that this approach can be seen as a successful attempt to evaluate consumer acceptability toward a new food product. The results also confirm the importance of consumer‐insight in the innovation process. In particular, the proposed approach allowed integrating the sensory evaluation with marketing processes and efficiently targeting product development activities. Finally, the experimental findings of the current study can be considered an opportunity to valorize livestock production and reduce the environmental impact.