Focus Group

Jelaia held two focus groups this Fall 2008.

To understand how important focus groups are, let’s first share the Wikipedia’s definition of it: “[...] a form of qualitative research in which a group of people is asked about their attitude towards a product, [...] concept, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.”

The Jelaia desserts’ recipes were first made according to our own taste. But how can we make sure it meets the market’s taste? Because the market is unmercifully right as it either adopts or rejects products outright, we have to listen to it.

We gathered a group of people who were asked to try our samples out in small groups of three, isolated in a room to prevent any outside influence.

The result of those focus groups, being held one month away one from another to have time to tweak the recipes, was critical to help us get the “market formulation”.

We of course made sure to gather a group of tasters of various ethnic backgrounds representative of the American market. Also included were a few Chefs (from the Daniel Boulud kitchen…) and food writers.

We listened to everybody to a certain extent to avoid common pitfalls: We received a few “extreme” feedback and we know that participants can also tend to be “too nice” so as to encourage us in our endeavor.
So market feedback must always be taken with relativity. What does matter here is the precious direction which the market clearly gave us in terms of fruit flavoring, sweetness, texture, color, aftertaste, as well as pricing, packaging, and logo.

We are doing our best to develop the recipes in a professional manner, and ensure that the resulting product will always reflect this high standard.