Re-contextualising a novel product. Based on: Initial consideration introducing tempe in Denmark.

By Anna Loraine Hartmann and Louise Beck Brønnum, Nordic Food Lab and Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, DK.

Re-contextualising is defined by Cook and Crang (1996) as an interplay between the consumers and the producers, where the context (situation), production, and origin are all constructers of the re-contextualisation of a novel product.

Tempe is defined by Owens et al. (2015) as a food derived from a processing technique originating in Indonesia, where mould, often from the Rhizopus spp. knit the substrate together and produce a white, firm textured “pressed cake” that can be fried, cooked or boiled. The substrate derives either from legumes, grains, or by-products.

As food neophils (i.e., individuals who love to try novel food), the authors of this paper were eager and excited about trying tempe. But as for many Danes, hearing about a white mould penetrating and encapsulating a base of legumes sounded disgusting (Rozin and Fallon 1987) and mounted a barrier for actually tasting it.

Bernat Guixer (NFL 2015) has explored the production of tempe, based on Nordic crops, in order to make it more sustainable in a Danish production perspective (NFL 2015). Could this help the re-contextualising of tempe in Denmark?

With an interdisciplinary approach towards product development, the aim of the project was first of all to develop a safe and acceptable tempe using creative design methodology (Naes and Nyvold 2003). Next step was creating a context for tempe to be introduced to the Danish market using high-end chefs in Denmark in an ideation workshop. In this context, chefs were seen as potential Lead Users (Von Hippel 1986). A final consumer test was conducted in a setting of a restaurant, and the results were analysed.

Based on these results, the paper suggests a possible future methodology to be used for successful product development when introducing novel food products to a market.  

Biography

• Cook, I., and P. Crang. 1996. “The World On a Plate: Culinary Culture, Displacement and Geographical Knowledges.” Journal of Material Culture 1 (2): 131–53.
• Naes, Tormod and Tone E.  Nyvold. 2003 “Creative design-an efficient tool for product development.” Food quality and preference 15 (2004): 97-104.
• NFL-Nordic Food Lab [Online]: >>  http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2015/11/20/tempe-part-1-traditional-fermentation-fungal-trials-and-regional-seeds <<, November 20, 2015.
• Owens, J . David, Mary Astuti, and Kapti Rahayu Kuswanto. 2014. “Chapter 1: Tempe and Related Products.” In Indigenous Fermented Foods of Southeast Asia, edited by J . David Owens, 1sted., 1–108. CRC Press 2014.
• Rozin, P, and a E Fallon. 1987. “A Perspective on Disgust.” Psychological Review 94 (1): 23–41.
• Von Hippel, E. 1986, "Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts," Management Science, 32, 791-805.