# Know how your formula will land before you commit

Get your product into real homes and collect honest consumer feedback on taste, texture, and aroma — no lab required, results in weeks.

## Taste & sensory testing

Highlight AIFinding

Less sweetness and a cleaner finish lifted overall liking.

+26 pts

liking lift

7.6

hedonic mean

### Sensory profile

Recipe A vs B

| Taste | Texture | Aroma | Sweetness | Aftertaste |
|-------|---------|-------|----------|------------|
| Recipe A | | | | |
| Recipe B | | | | |

Recipes match on aroma — recipe A falls short on taste

Built for innovators. Loved by product teams. Trusted by leading brands.

## Taste test at scale, with real consumers, faster than you thought possible

Run taste and sensory tests quickly and efficiently — speed to insight gets the right formulations to market faster.

A truly representative panel

A diverse, vetted, pre-screened tester sample delivers more accurate and relevant feedback than traditional sensory panels.

Live data dashboards

Consumer feedback streams in real-time, so R&D can tweak formulation pre-launch with confidence.

### How Highlight does it

#### Understand exactly how your product tastes, smells, and feels

1. **Recruit qualified tasters who match your market**  
   Taste preferences vary dramatically across demographics, dietary habits, and cultures — the wrong panel gives you the wrong answer. Highlight connects you with pre-screened consumers who actually represent your intended audience.

2. **Track sensory attributes with precision**  
   Standardized protocols guide testers through systematic evaluation of taste, aroma, texture, and visual appeal — research-grade data that eliminates the noise of casual opinions.

3. **Scale without compromising quality or speed**  
   A single SKU or an entire product line — run multiple studies simultaneously while Highlight manages the full logistics chain, from receiving your products to shipping them to qualified testers.

### Case study · King’s Hawaiian

#### How King’s Hawaiian accelerated product development through rapid consumer testing

- 94% completion rate across 180 units tested nationwide, with live data 4 days from shipment
- Actionable consumer insights in under 2 weeks enabled pre-launch optimization
- Feedback across sensory optimization, brand-product fit, and pricing strategy
- Lower research costs and faster decisions for line extension evaluation

#### Getting started is simple

1. **Design your test**  
   Define your objectives, create your survey, and set parameters for your ideal testers.

2. **We ship your products**  
   We handle recruitment and distribution to get your products into the right homes.

3. **See your data instantly**  
   Feedback streams into the platform and becomes actionable insight as it arrives.

## Gather reliable consumer sensory insights

### Reformulation testing

Compare new formulas against current products so quality stays high through ingredient changes.

### Flavor profile optimization

Fine-tune taste, aroma, and mouthfeel against target consumer preferences.

### Quality control benchmarking

Set consistent sensory standards production teams can hold every batch to.

### Market entry feasibility

Understand regional and cultural taste variations before entering new markets.

## Common taste & sensory testing questions

### How does in-home sensory testing compare to a lab panel?

Consumers evaluate products during their normal routines, capturing contextual factors — meal timing, mood, environment — that artificial lab conditions miss. The result is sensory feedback that predicts real-world response.

### How fast do sensory insights come back?

Highlight delivers decision-ready sensory data in as little as 14 days from project kickoff — compared to 6–8 weeks for traditional research agency timelines. And because the community spans 60,000+ pre-vetted consumer testers, you can reach even niche taste profiles with incidence rates as low as 3% without extending that timeline.

### How accurate is the data?

Red-herring screening, demographic verification, and a 48% community acceptance rate keep junk data to 1–2%, compared to the ~30% industry average.

### Does it work outside food and beverage?

Yes — the same protocols adapt to personal care, pet products, home goods, and more, from taste testing beverages to assessing skincare texture.

## Know exactly how your product tastes, feels, and smells to real consumers

Before you commit to production, get sensory feedback that’s fast, reliable, and built for confident decisions.