Kitchens

Testing concepts against the reality of the product.

The Thoughts For Food Kitchen

Prototypes in development

Development & prototyping

The Thoughts For Food Kitchen

Developing and prototyping products early in the process makes it possible to quickly identify which directions to pursue, refine or abandon.

Thoughts For Food develops and prototypes concepts in the kitchen to:

Test the consistency of innovation platforms and quickly identify ideas that don’t hold up
Experiment with ingredient pairings and flavor and texture combinations
Explore product formats and culinary usage
Develop, refine and prioritize ideas generated during ideation
Turn ideas into concrete product architectures

The directions developed and prioritized through this process are then formalized to guide and facilitate the work of marketing and R&D teams.

Kitchen Lab

Group experimentation session

Experimentation & testing

The Consumer Kitchen Lab

Having consumers experiment with products reveals what they actually do with them, not just what they say.

Consumers come together in a deliberately non-professional kitchen, where several participants can cook at the same time in a familiar, non-intimidating environment. Depending on the project, they test existing products, work with prototypes, explore different uses or take an active role in developing new ideas.

This approach makes it possible to:

Observe behaviors and usage in context
Assess product relevance and consumer adoption
Identify spontaneous product or recipe adjustments
Uncover product opportunities and barriers
Refine, select or redirect development directions

The insights generated help refine, enrich, select or redirect developments before they move forward with R&D teams or undergo qualitative and/or quantitative evaluation.

In professional kitchens

Real-world product testing

With consumers

In-home prototype testing

Real-world contexts & usage

In-Home Kitchens

With Consumers & Food Professionals

A product also needs to prove itself under real-world conditions of use.

Once prototypes developed by R&D teams are sufficiently advanced, they are given to consumers or food professionals to use in their own kitchens, following a protocol defined in advance.

Over one to two weeks, participants cook, experiment and document their experiences through photos and videos, sharing their preparations, tastings and consumption contexts with us.
In-home testing also allows participants to share the products with family, friends, colleagues or customers, gathering a broader and more diverse range of feedback on the products being tested.

This approach makes it possible to observe how products are adopted and adapted, while also assessing their real-world performance: taste, texture, format and behavior during preparation or cooking.

The insights are then translated into recommendations that enable R&D teams to refine the prototypes.