Patabandige, M. I. W. N. R., Godfrey, A. J. R., Lim, A. J. Y., Lin, J. W. X., R, J., Foster, M., & Hort, J. (2026). Consumer perception of cows’ milk and Plant‐Based milk alternatives: Comparing Aotearoa–New Zealand and Singapore consumers. Journal of Sensory Studies, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.70090
Abstract:
ABSTRACT
As food provisioning becomes more globalized, a shift to understanding cross‐country insights is occurring. This study investigated whether the consumer experience of cows' milk and plant‐based milk alternatives (PBMAs) differed between Aotearoa New Zealand (A‐NZ) and Singaporean (SG) consumers. Further, as data were collected between two sessions, consumer repeatability across sessions was also explored. Consumers evaluated two cows' milks (high fat and low fat) and five PBMAs (oat, rice, soy, almond, and cashew) products commercially available in both countries. While high‐fat cows' milk was liked the most, country‐specific liking differences were captured in the PBMA space. SG liked PBMA‐related sensory properties that drove disliking and negative emotions. A few exceptions existed if the product was more familiar to consumers of one country than the other. Potential differences in response to PBMAs were noted more than A‐NZ. Often, cows' milk evoked positive emotions, and PBMAs evoked neutral/negative emotions. Sensory properties related to dairy milk drove liking and positive emotions, while styles were also observed. SG used the middle range of the liking scale and gave lower rates of CATA citations than A‐NZ. This resulted in lower product discrimination, magnitude effects in sensory drivers of liking, and lower numbers of sensory drivers of emotions observed in SG than in A‐NZ.
License type:
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Catalyst - NA
Grant Reference no. : MAUX2001
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - NA
Grant Reference no. : A20D3b0075
Description:
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Patabandige, M. I. W. N. R., Godfrey, A. J. R., Lim, A. J. Y., Lin, J. W. X., R, J., Foster, M., & Hort, J. (2026). Consumer perception of cows’ milk and Plant‐Based milk alternatives: Comparing Aotearoa–New Zealand and Singapore consumers. Journal of Sensory Studies, 41(1). , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.70090. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.