Thrifty Foods Tasting Panel

Awakening your senses: taking taste to the next level


Tracey M., a Thrifty Foods Taste Panelist, feels that adding fresh ingredients, like herbs and citrus, to her meals wakes up her taste buds and delivers positive wellness results.

After six months, the Thrifty Foods Customer Taste Panel has been hard at work tasting, smelling - yes, smelling - and reviewing many of our Thrifty Foods products. Our customer panel is made up of unique, individual community members united by their love of good food and their keen sense of taste.

Last issue, we introduced you to the reasons and rationale behind setting up our Thrifty Foods Taste Panel. Our carefully selected and trained panelists had the opportunity to compare national and local brand names alongside products from our Compliments line. Check out your local Thrifty Foods to see which products made the grade - only Compliments products that pass our panel remain on our shelves.

This season, we would like to introduce you to Tracey M., one of our talented panelists, and share with you a few of her favourite flavours:

What is your personal background - did you grow up here on the West Coast?

Yes, I have lived in Victoria since the age of nine and grew up with a Thrifty Foods in my neighbourhood. At that time, my friends also worked at Thrifty Foods and I shopped there, too, so I know the stores quite well.

Why did you choose to become a Thrifty Foods taste panelist?

Both my mom and my sister cooked a lot for the family, but I was a late starter in this area. Now, I enjoy cooking with my husband. I had never been in the food industry before either, and I liked the idea of learning more about it. I think the local Taste Panel is a real asset for our community. Also, I'm quite involved in community events, so I felt a connection to Thrifty Foods because of their community sponsorship programs and volunteerism.

What is the most interesting part of this tasting process?

Tasting is a real science. For example, did you know that 80% of our sense of taste is smell? I didn't realize it before starting my training. I love understanding more about the various attributes of my favourite foods.

Are you enjoying your own shopping or cooking experience more since training with the panel?

I tend to pay more attention to aroma. I take my time. Also, I have noticed that I'm cooking more often with simple, fresh ingredients - herbs and citrus, for example. I live an active lifestyle and like that feeling of my taste buds being awakened! Fresher flavours, more fun in the kitchen, and getting better fitness results are all part of this experience for me.

from FRESH Magazine, Winter 2011 edition

The Thrifty Foods Customer Taste Panel was launched to ensure that our Alex Campbell Signature Series and Compliments products are tried, taste-tested and true to our promise of quality and freshness.

We work hard to develop delectable new taste experiences for you. This includes guaranteeing that our products are sourced from a supplier that has complied with stringent third-party audit requirements, signed a commitment to meeting our industry-leading quality and food safety standards, and provided full disclosure of plant and product food safety protocols.

Our local panel examines each product's nutritional value, claims and taste as part of this process. These results are also supported by laboratory analysis but it doesn't stop there. Our Compliments products are also re-tested every year by the Sobeys Taste Panel with each supplier undergoing a further independent food audit.

Every panelist remains a customer first and, with their extensive in-house training, these individuals provide us with unbiased feedback on our unique food and grocery offerings.