ABSTRACT
The marketing of mushrooms in New Zealand is highly subjective. No detailed grading specifications exist and they are graded based on the experience of the growers (experts). The requirements of consumers are three or four steps removed in the value chain. The objective of this research has been to develop a quantitative set of descriptors which describe the quality grading criteria actually used by the graders, and to develop a similar set of criteria for the consumer. These two sets of descriptors were then compared to determine the differences in the two interpretations of quality.
Generally the consumers are classifing solely on visual attributes. There was disagreement between the consumer and the grower that suggested that the grower has adopted a quality profile which considerably exceeds that expected by the consumer group studied here.
The Machine Learning technique has been shown to produce a useful set of quality characterisation models for consumers. These have easily interpretable decision trees which are built on the objective attributes measured. The techniques help to provide an insight into the complex decisions made by consumers considering the purchase of mushrooms.
