Inovação alimentar e a aceitação de novos produtos

: caso de estudo leitaria da Quinta do Paço

Abstract

Within the scope of the curricular unit Master’s Thesis, included in the Master's Degree in Biotechnology and Innovation at the School of Biotechnology of the Portuguese Catholic University of Porto, it was proposed to carry out an internship in a business environment in the area food innovation, namely at Leitaria da Quinta do Paço, having as main objective the development of an innovative product for the market. New products are required as far as companies need to evolve according to the trends and changes in the consumers’ eating habits, who are now more concerned about a healthy lifestyle and more careful with the products they consume. Therefore, a market study was carried out through the application of an online survey that involved 88 participants, in order to assess the public’s interest in a pastry product, namely, an éclair, without added sugars. The results showed that 94,8% of the respondents expressed interest in this new product, and only 5,2% would not be interest in the product. Sweeteners like stevia and xylitol were the chosen ones to replace sugar in the product. With this sweeteners, 3 types of fillings were made: chantilly with stevia, chantilly with xylitol and a coffee flavored pastry cream with xylitol. With respect to the coating, several sample, already in the market, were tested. The final product was obtained, made with choux dough, with its original recipe, a coffee flavored pastry cream without added sugars, using xylitol as a sweetener, and dark chocolate sweetened with stevia. In terms of nutritional information, the impact on added sugars was very hight, but the caloric and lipid levels did not undergo significant changes. This product was sold in 4 of LQP’s stores, 3 in shopping centers and 1 in the street. It was concluded that total sales were higher in shopping center stores. It is important that the company continues to invest in products that follow the evolution of the market, with new projects already in place.

Date of Award	9 Jun 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Maria Gomes (Supervisor) & Ana Alexandra da Silveira Veiga de Macedo Couceiro da Costa (Co-Supervisor)