The Impact of Usage Method and Coffee Variety on Consumer Preferences of Coffee Creamers

ABSTRACT Consumer evaluation of coffee creamers necessitates evaluation in a cup of coffee. Two phases of research were used to determine if method of serving creamer or coffee variety impacted the acceptance of four creamers. In Phase I, consumers evaluated creamers in medium roast coffee using one of three methods: (1) Fixed amount ( n = 127), (2) free pour ( n = 120), and (3) warm‐up ( n = 122). In Phase II, the serving method was constant (fixed amount), but consumers ( n = 134) evaluated creamers in two coffees (light and dark roast). Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistics. No significant interactions ( p > 0.05) were observed for overall liking (key metric) for either creamer × method (Phase I) or creamer × coffee (Phase II). Thus, the choice of serving method will not impact creamer preference. Further, the choice of coffee roast will not impact creamer preference, but creamers served in light roast coffee had higher liking scores than creamers served in dark roast coffee.