How do you define aesthetic experience?

 

LM: The aesthetic experience, in regards to food, is not just about taste, but also presentation. Before we even begin the concept stage of a food product, we have to understand the mental perception of the consumer. This expectation from the consumer is the guiding force in creating aesthetic experience of a food. After gained knowledge of the consumer, aesthetic experience involves visual presentation of food, sound and feel of food (like when you are cutting into it, and finally taste and smell (overall satisfaction).  Like mentioned early, the aesthetic experience is altered by each consumer.  For example, I care about price for the enjoyment of food, where as price may be a negative indicator for others.  In contemporary times, many people may expect natural or organic food products to make the most of their aesthetic experience.

 

How does the concept of aesthetic experience relate to your work (or not)?

 

LM: As a food scientist, we are working on more of the sensory side of things. The taste and the appearance of product when purchased or opened. We are all about physical package of product. How does it look, taste, how do you prepare it. We also look at the marketing side—what is important to the consumer. Before creation of an aesthetic food experience, it is important to understand the bigger picture.  We have to think about client’s mental perception before creating the project. For example, if we were to develop meatloaf, we would first need to know, “Does the client want meatloaf? What kind of meat do they prefer? Etc…) Basically, what does the consumer value. After the consumer is understood, we can design the sensory part of the aesthetic experience, that is the taste, smell, sound, feel, etc of the food product.

 

 

How do you deal with the (negative) stigma surrounding frozen food aesthetics?

 

 

LM: Around the 1970s and 80s the perception of frozen food was TV dinners with lots of preservatives and sodium.  It’s difficult to say that frozen food is still the same as then, because it’s not, but it is hard to change people’s perception of what is now and what had been.  A lot of the negative things about frozen food is myths.  We need education and communication, those are the most important in getting away from the negative connotation of frozen dinners. 

 

 

Now, we have a lot of products that have a lot of vegetables, and we make sure the fresh components of a meal are highlighted.  Any color we can add from vegetables draws in consumers.  We are not using anything outside of what you are normally eating, we are just freezing it. Over 90% of our meals do not have preservatives (freezing is a natural preservation method).  In addition, sodium is only in the food for flavor  We are also using healthy ingredients and simplifying sauces and ingredients.  We are constantly asking what the expectation of the consumer is.  Do they want it as they would make it at home? Or something that’s out of their reach? .” It’s difficult to be in the industry and working on it, because you are trying to do the best thing for the product and consumer, but the negative perception is what affects it.  You cannot have a one size fits all type of nutrition plan because everyone expects something different.

 

 

What is the role of aesthetic experience in society today?

 

 

LM: What is the impact of a brand as a status symbol to make people purchase a product? For example, Starbucks coffee logo—goddess, brown sleeve, white cup; we all know it.  Do consumers buy the coffee for its enjoyment? The flavor? Or that they get to walk around with this cup? We see this especially in NYC, people walk around with earbuds in and a cup of Starbucks coffee in hand.  This coffee cup has come to stand for status, intellect, etc. Take out the Starbucks cup and swap it in for a McDonalds McChicken. The image of this is hilarious, but why aren’t we questioning why everyone carries Starbucks around? We have latched onto lifestyles created by Starbucks—busy worker, college student, professor…etc. 

 

 

Similar to the coffee cup, we see trends such as “I only eaten vegan, gluten…” Are consumers choosing this as a personal belief or just so that they can talk about it.  In society today, trends and status symbols impact the aesthetics of food just as much as physical attributes. Personally, the way I see food is so much about flavor and taste, but now more than ever, there are so many attributes that contribute to this. In the U.S., a country of excess, we have the choice of what we are going to eat; however other countries do not have the availability to ask questions like, “Is it vegan?”  The U.S. has a very extreme spectrum of consumer preference of food aesthetics, where as the majority of Germans prefer inexpensive food, and many French see food as conversational, good company, so they spend a lot on long dinners.  Overall in today’s society in the U.S., I see the aesthetics of food becoming more of a wealth and status symbol more than ever before.

 

 

So, has your definition of aesthetics changed since the beginning of this conversation?

 

 

LM: Before this conversation, when I thought of the word ‘aesthetics’ I think of ‘aesthetically pleasing.’ Does the meal look symmetrical? Is something out of place? After this conversation, I think of the much bigger picture of food aesthetics and its role in society today.