Aplicação conjunta do QFD (Desdobramento da Função Qualidade) e análise sensorial no estudo da qualidade do produto Petit Suisse

Abstract

Companies are in direct competition and increasingly use quality programs to try to maintain market share. In this context, the customer becomes a fundamental part of the success of any product launched, being a rich source of ideas. The satisfaction of customer needs is a quality definition. A quality tool that aims to translate the customer's desire is QFD (Quality Function Deployment). This piece of research was motivated by a situation observed in a Dairy Industry located in Ceará in relation to low demand production with negative impact on productivity rates, packet loss and overall efficiency of the processing line for Petit Suisse cheese. Thus, the objective was to study the identification of quality characteristics with regard to Petit Suisse cheese, jointly applying QFD methodologies and Sensory Analysis for product improvement using Matrix of Quality of the final product. Four brands of Petit Suisse cheese were selected, two international (reference top business minds in the industry) and two regional (local reference companies in the Northeast). A focus group technique was applied using questions directed at the characteristics of the product, and in this way it was possible to obtain information about the concept and product quality. Two groups of seven participants, chosen from the young adult segment, formed focus groups. Exploratory research was also used (qualitative questionnaires) with general questions about the product. Sensory acceptance tests and measurement of expectation were applied to verify acceptance and consumer expectations regarding the product were studied. To quantify the data obtained in the qualitative stage, we applied quantitative questionnaires consisting of items concerning required qualities. The data obtained during the previous steps have been inserted in the Matrix Quality, which presented the items of required quality (requirements of consumers) versus the quality characteristics of the final product. In the qualitative questionnaires, the nutritious aspects, those related to the product being healthy, and those meaning it was affordable were highlighted as ideal product. For the consumer’s focus group, it was found that the most striking feature was the consistency of the product followed by the flavor attribute and then the color. The sensory analysis showed that the Petit Suisse product is well accepted and the products of regional and international brands achieved equal acceptance in the blind test, showing the competitive potential of regional brands. The measure of expectations revealed consumer loyalty to brands. Regarding the physicochemical analyses, the international samples (M2 and M3) showed higher protein. The M1 sample showed the highest percentage of fat and the M4 sample had high acidity. The application of the Sensory Analysis and QFD together made it possible to prepare the Quality Matrix for identifying which quality characteristics are most relevant to the Petit Suisse product in the opinion of the 11 consumer, namely: the expiration date, being nutritious, having nutrition information on the la bel, creamy consistency, absence of supernatant liquid, characteristic flavor and sweet taste. The color and aroma attributes had less importance in the Quality Matrix. Thus, it was possible to highlight which features should be considered important when responding to consumers’ wishes regarding the Petit Suisse product.