ABSTRACT
While New Zealand is among the world’s largest producers of sheep meat, sheep milk products have not played a major role in the country´s agricultural output. The lack of sheep milk consumption is in part explained by the dominance of the bovine dairy sector and the consumer´s perception of sheep milk as animal rather than human food. This research explores food product design as a tool to encourage interactions and positive experiences with sheep milk. For this research, more than 22 dairy stores and food events were visited to collect data through different qualitative techniques. The data was transcribed and transformed into “utterances” (Kolko, 2014). Visual utterance analysis was used to identify insight statements and key product requirements. The product concepts and prototypes were evaluated iteratively by potential consumers to find a final product concept. The potential consumers enjoyed the tasting activities and showed great interest in continuing to buy sheep milk products. It was observed that food product interactions can be purposefully designed to create positive or pleasurable experiences around negatively perceived foods, an important input for shifting perception.
