The International Taste & Quality Institute prides itself on its very large and diverse panels of chefs, sommeliers and drink experts from all over Europe. As every year our 120 Taste Experts meet in Brussels to taste more than 160 products, we thought it would be appropriate for you to get to know our teams.

This week, we’re introducing you to the Greek Chef’s Club.

This almost 20 years old club is based in Athens has been an iTQi partner since the Institute’s beginnings. The Club is composed by Chefs, Pastry Chefs and Higher education professionals, which allows this outstanding and extremely active organisation to integrate nicely in the food market. Their mission, promoting and increasing knowledge and visibility of the art of Gastronomy, appealed to the Institute’s objectives.

Among its activities, the Greek Chefs Club has been behind the HO.RE.CA trade fair in Athens and a number of competitions in Greece and abroad. It has also established an active collaboration with EOT, the Greek Tourism Organisation, and a number of ministries for the certification of restaurants and the award of the “Chef’s Badge”, a must have indication of culinary skills. And on the international scene, the Greek Chef’s Club works with the KERASMA initiative promoting high quality Mediterranean products. Their activity in the Food and Drink industry makes them an excellent partner for the International Taste & Quality Institute.

Due to their broad and open background, the Greek Chef’s Club members have developed a strong curiosity and willingness to discover new, exciting products from all over the world.

Do you want more information about the Greek Chef’s Club? Visit their website HERE and their Facebook page HERE

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The blogosphere is buzzing with news about iTQi and the Superior Taste Awards! We found this excellent article in Spanish about the Superior Taste Awards by Meritxell Falgueras. Meritxell publishes Wine and the City (Best Catalan wine content blog 2009) and participated for the first time in the Superior Taste Awards in 2009. This year, she will be back in Brussels for the 2010 edition.

He tenido la oportunidad de ir a Bruselas como jurado de la quinta edición de Superior Taste Awards de iTQi realizado en Golf du Château de la Bawette los días 29, 30 y 31 de marzo en Bruselas. Ha sido una gran oportunidad de conocer a grandes compañeros de la profesión de toda Europa, a los encantadores organizadores y a retar mi paladar haciendo catas de leche, sake, cerveza, infusiones, agua, zumos, vodka, licores, refrescos, shochu, té, café… ¡Una experiencia increíble! Porque no sólo era cualificar los productos sino que debíamos explicar sus grandezas o lo que se podría mejorar. Una gran lección y un gran entrenamiento para mi nariz y mis papilas gustativas, demasiado acostumbradas a degustar vino…


Muchas empresas se nutren de conocimientos y buenas intenciones. Pero las que funcionan están basadas en el valor, en la inteligencia y en las que hay buenas personas detrás. Así es  Superior Taste Awards, una manera eficaz de poner a prueba las bebidas (a través los sumilleres) y los productos gastronómicos (con los mejores chefs europeos). Un sabio examen para que las empresas que participan puedan conocer los límites y cómo se perciben sus productos.  Y los premiados ganan la merecida medalla que es una perfecta guía para los consumidores que tienen la garantía del jurado experto. Con iniciativas así, da gusto trabajar en este hermoso mundo sensorial de la sumillería.


I had the opportunity to go to Brussels as a judge for the fifth edition of iTQi’s Superior Taste Awards, held at the Golf du Château de la Bawette on 29, 30 and 31 March 2009 in Brussels. It was a great opportunity to meet great companions of the profession across Europe. The organizers were charming and I was able to challenge my palate by tasting milk, sake, beer, tea, water, juice, vodka, liqueurs, soft drinks, shochu, tea, coffee … An incredible experience! Qualifying the products was not our only task; we had to explain why a product was great or what could be improved. A great lesson and a great workout for my nose and my taste buds, too accustomed to tasting wine …


Many companies thrive on knowledge and good intentions. But the really great companies are those based on value, intelligence and in which there are good people. The Superior Taste Awards are an effective way to test drinks (by the sommeliers) and gourmet products (with the best chefs in Europe). A wise consideration for companies involved to know the limits and how they perceive their products. And for the winners earning a deserved medal, the award is a perfect guide for consumers who are assured of the jury’s expertise.


It is with such beautiful initiatives that I keep wanting to work in the beautiful world of taste, wines and aromas.

This way for the original article: http://www.winesandthecity.com/2009/04/07/international-taste-quality-institute/

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Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

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Thank you for reading!


Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this article using the button below! We’re always interested in knowing what you think!


You can also make sure you never miss a single post by registering our blog’s RSS feed in your favourite online RSS reader or email program.


Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

值此歲末年初之際，iTQi向您送上虎年祝福：

祝您來年

身體健康，生龍活虎；

萬事大吉，福虎生風；

事業順意，眾虎同心！

Louis Frère 執行管理合夥人
Christian De Bauw 執行管理合夥人
易靜 亞洲區事務負責人

Superior Taste Award 2010

產品註冊報名及樣品寄送截止日期：
飲品類：3月10日；食品類：3月31日
產品評鋻：3月；評鋻結果：4月；頒獎典禮：5月

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Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this article using the button below! We’re always interested in knowing what you think!


You can also make sure you never miss a single post by registering our blog’s RSS feed in your favourite online RSS reader or email program.


Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

Promoting great tasting Food and Drink, helping producers improve their products and increase their sales has always been the International Taste & Quality Institute’s key objectives. We consider it a success when one of our clients come back to us the following year with new products and tell us the award has had a positive effect on their sales.


You can understand that we were delighted when Ms. Shimoi, Subsection Chief at Matsuzawa’s (producer of the excellent Ringo Otome, three stars in 2009), development department wrote in one of her emails:


“iTQi優秀味覚賞を受賞させていただいてからというもの、おかげさまで工場は大忙しです。
特に三ツ星を頂いた「りんご乙女」は予想以上の販売量で、原料のりんごが切れてしまわないか毎日ハラハラしながら、
うれしい悲鳴を上げております。”


Which roughly translates into:


“Since our product’s quality has been recognised through the Superior Taste Award, organised by the International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi), our plant has not stopped producing! Our sales of “Ringo Otome”, rewarded with three stars, have increased in an incredible way and we’re always a bit worried of not having enough apples, prime ingredient of our biscuit. But this fear does make us happy, so it’s not too bad… Not bad at all actually”.


And while we’re not surprised, considering the substantial research backing our concept, getting such feedback always makes us happy as it proves we are working on something that helps small and large producers equally in promoting their exceptional products!


It’s the kind of comments that, since first edition of the Superior Taste Awards, have kept us going. It is those comments that have maintained and increased our belief that our unique concept, combining a detailed Sensory Analysis and a clear, easy to communicate Marketing Tool, are effective in helping our clients meet consumer expectations and increase their bottom line.


More information on Matsuzawa Co., LTD: http://www.matsuzawa.gr.jp/iTQi.htm

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Thank you for reading!


Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this article using the button below! We’re always interested in knowing what you think!


You can also make sure you never miss a single post by registering our blog’s RSS feed in your favourite online RSS reader or email program.


Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

A challenging 2009 is getting close to its end… Brussels is getting covered with a layer of snow… Lights are filling up houses and streets… The members of our Jury, are in their kitchen and wine cellar making the final adjustments on those Christmas and New-Year’s menus…

No mistake: it’s that time of the year again!

The entire iTQi Team takes this opportunity to send all its friends and clients greetings for the holiday season, and its very best wishes for a successful 2010, full of taste and innovation.

What will happen during the holiday season?

With the exception of Christmas Day (25/12/2009) and New-Year’s day (01/01/2010) the Institute will be available to answer your questions and help you submit your products for tasting by our Chefs and Sommeliers.


Like the rest of the year, our telephone lines will be open from 09.00 to 18.00 GMT+1.

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Thank you for reading!


Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this article using the button below! We’re always interested in knowing what you think!


You can also make sure you never miss a single post by registering our blog’s RSS feed in your favourite online RSS reader or email program.


Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

In developing great, new products for their customers, companies often fall in what Larry Selden and Ian C. MacMillan (Harvard Business Review) called the “Growth Gap“: failing to identify real trends and customer wants/needs during a Research and Development project. They argue, in summary, that falling in the “Growth Gap” is similar to throwing money at your R&D team while totally ignoring your customers (and, ultimately, your share-holders).


In the competitive area of food production, nothing could be more true. In fact, most people involved in creating great food and beverage products to the market have, at some point in their career, met this challenge. As thousands of different products compete for a share of the consumers’ taste buds and wallet, Innovation, Research and Development and meaningful Novelty take a new importance for any company striving to bring anything to the table. In this context, it becomes crucial that Research & Development efforts are aligned with the latest trends in consumer taste.


The International Taste & Quality Institute was founded with this idea in mind: helping great food and drink producers get expert knowledge from the people that are best qualified and positioned to associate taste trends and characteristics with what consumers like. Combining their customer’s feedback with their knowledge and experience, iTQi’s Chefs and Sommeliers are able to give a supported opinion on any product’s taste. The combination of many of these feedbacks can then be used to improve the participating products in a direction that will certainly meet its market’s needs.


The challenge of the “Growth Gap” has been around as long as businesses themselves have had to adapt to changing market conditions. Today, solutions exist to close this gap by listening to the organisation’s customers or to people that know them well. And it’s the organisation’s that listen best that will, ultimately, perform best.

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Don’t hesitate to leave a comment on this article using the button below! We’re always interested in knowing what you think!


You can also make sure you never miss a single post by registering our blog’s RSS feed in your favourite online RSS reader or email program.


Did you know? The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) is getting social. As from now, you can find us on Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you’re up to date on the Institute’s latest activities and events!

The factors affecting the nature, quality and characteristics of olive oil, though diverse and complex are well known by producers. Beyond the fruit itself, its maturity, variety and growing conditions, it is through the manufacturing process (cold/hot pressing, physical/chemical extraction etc…) that each olive oil develops its distinctive nature. The extraction method is also an underlying factor in the determination of the “class” of oil (Virgin, Refined, Olive Oil or Pomace).


The taste of olive oil, however, has always been a more debated issue, with two different approaches confronting each other.


The first of these is defined by its efforts to standardise and systematise the tasting process through a number of predefined aromas, tastes and appearances. These are traditionally presented in the form of “Taste Wheels”, often protected by copyright by their authors, yet readily available on the internet.


Various organisations around the world have thus developed their own “tasting guide” and process to evaluate the gustatory qualities of olive oil. This results in a very large array of often intersecting aromas and tastes which cannot possibly be enumerated in a blog post. Similarly, categories established to regroup the various aromas present significant variation but often include various elements under “Fruity”, “Nutty”, “Floral”, and “Spicy” (among others).


This approach, while offering the benefit of a standardized, homogeneous and normalised set of results is sometimes criticised for its rigidity and the exclusion of individual sensitivity demonstrated by the tasters.


The second approach relies much more on the skills and abilities of the tasters. Throughout their education and (most importantly) their professional experience, taste experts continuously encounter new flavours and aromas which they are able to recognise and name in other products. Relying on this extensive knowledge and experience when tasting olive oil helps to obtain a much broader description that captures unique characteristics which would otherwise go unnoticed.


Finally, regardless of the approach taken, the optimal conditions for tasting olive oil also require a rigorous tasting procedure to capture every aroma and characteristic of the product and, above all, a quite, aroma-neutral environment that favours concentration and allows the taster to associate their sensory experience with their vocabulary and knowledge of quality. These


At the International Taste & Quality Institute, a combination of these two methodologies allows our taste experts to reconcile a systematic approach with their unique ability to identify rare savours and aromas during their sensory analysis. Together with our fitted tasting environment and scrupulous respect of the product, the iTQi methodology ensures that all olive oils submitted for evaluation are analysed in detail and that, at the end of the tasting session, a rich report can provide producers with the knowledge and the vocabulary to improve and market their products in the best possible way.
At the end of the day, producers know that creating a superior tasting olive oil is both a Science and an Art. Why shouldn’t tasting this historical product be both as well?

The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi) expands its presence on the internet with its new service: a regularly updated information source about food, taste and quality. Follow us for regular posts about how we carry out our tests, access our chef’s expert knowledge and learn the most surprising facts about taste.

Don’t want to miss a single post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and receive every single one of them in your favorite RSS reader or your email inbox.

We are excited about this new opportunity to explain what we are doing. Stay tuned for the first posts in the next few days!


Tastefully yours




The iTQi Team