SENSE TEST, SOCIEDADE DE ESTUDOS DE ANALISE SENSORIAL A PRODUTOS ALIMENTARES, LDA

Their core work

Sense Test is a Portuguese SME specialising in sensory analysis and consumer perception testing for food products — the science of how people taste, smell, and judge food. Their EU project work positions them as applied validators within research consortia: they bring real-world consumer and sensory data to projects developing novel ingredients and processing technologies. In SUSINCHAIN they assessed consumer acceptance of insect-derived proteins, and in TRANSIT they contribute to food microbiology, process optimisation, and risk assessment for sustainable food processing. For industrial partners, they bridge the gap between laboratory-scale food innovation and what consumers will actually accept and buy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Sense Test entered H2020 through the lens of alternative proteins and circular food systems — their first project, SUSINCHAIN, was squarely about insect protein chains, bio-conversion, and the consumer side of the protein transition. Their second project, TRANSIT, marks a pivot toward the technical and regulatory dimensions of food innovation: food microbiology, process optimisation, risk assessment, and cost-benefit analysis. The trajectory suggests they are expanding from pure sensory/consumer testing into a broader applied food science role that can speak to both the technical and market-readiness dimensions of new food technologies.

Sense Test is building toward a role as an integrated food innovation validator — able to assess not just whether consumers accept a new product, but whether the underlying process is safe, optimised, and economically viable.

How they like to work

Sense Test participates exclusively as a consortium partner and has never led an H2020 project, which is typical for specialist testing SMEs that contribute defined analytical services rather than driving research agendas. Despite only two projects, they have engaged with 39 distinct partners across 15 countries, indicating they are placed in large, multi-partner consortia rather than tight bilateral collaborations. This breadth suggests they are sought out as a specific capability node — sensory and consumer validation — that larger consortia need but cannot provide internally.

With 39 unique consortium partners across 15 countries from just two projects, Sense Test has a surprisingly wide European network for its size and project count. Their connections span both the food industry innovation space (SUSINCHAIN) and the academic training network ecosystem (TRANSIT/MSCA-ITN), giving them reach across both applied industry and university research circles.

What sets them apart

Sense Test occupies a narrow but commercially valuable niche: they are one of the few SMEs in Portugal offering professional sensory analysis services with demonstrated capacity to operate inside large EU research consortia. For project coordinators in food innovation, this means access to accredited consumer testing infrastructure without having to involve a large academic institution. Their dual exposure to alternative proteins and food process safety makes them particularly relevant to any consortium working on next-generation food ingredients that must pass both technical and consumer acceptance hurdles.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SUSINCHAIN
  A large Innovation Action on the full insect protein value chain — one of the flagship EU bets on alternative proteins — where Sense Test contributed the consumer perception and acceptance dimension critical to market viability.
• TRANSIT
  An MSCA Innovative Training Network, reflecting that Sense Test is trusted not only as an industry partner but as a training environment for early-stage researchers in sustainable food processing.