The legal entry of cannabis to the recreational consumer market in Canada and certain US states has opened up a huge new segment proving to be ripe with innovation, category expansion, and new products galore. Within the CPG world, sensory testing is an established research method to provide confidence when launching new products or changing existing ones, not to mention keeping tabs on your competitors, validating appeal among your target market, and identifying product development opportunities. The same ‘values’ as evidenced over decades in CPG, very much hold true for the newbie category: cannabis – and even more so considering the vast consumer confusion and naivety that exists from its ‘substance’ status, and highly regulated existence.
The following is Virescent’s Top 5 Reasons for Conducting Sensory-Based Consumer Testing of Products Containing Cannabis:
- Sensory based product testing is foundational work in any consumer-driven industry, and the key to creating well-established brands and trusted products
- Only consumers can provide reliable consumer research – we constantly hear feedback from clients in search of products that appeal to a specific segment – speaking to that group directly, or understanding how to find those people, can be solved with product testing, in ways that employee feedback simply cannot
- Cannabis is a “sensory” product and in fact, consumers rated this driver equal in importance to effect, ahead of price, brand, and any potential health benefit – as such, consumers will be demanding high quality products that appeal to all aspects of the sensory experience – how do your products deliver?
- We know that launching products is challenging and expensive already – so why risk the performance of your new cannabis edibles, flower, oils, or beverages by skipping a pre-launch check in with consumers?
- It’s legal to do this! And there are qualified companies ready and able to take on this unique category with fresh approaches to product testing – Virescent is leading this initiative with the goal of being the cannabis industry’s answer to all things linking products to consumers
For more information on consumer product testing with products containing cannabis, contact: