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Background: The market for Plant-Based (PB) meat alternatives like Plant-Based Cold Cuts (PBCC), has seen significant growth due to new technologies and rising consumer demand. However, a consistent lexicon for describing this product category is lacking.

Objective: To develop a consumer-derived lexicon from 8 commercial PBCC using rapid sensory methods, and to explore the relationship between these descriptors and consumer Willingness to Pay (WTP) to inform productdevelopment and marketing.

Methods: The study (N = 22 consumers) employed Rapid sensory methods - Flash Profile (FP) and ProjectiveMapping (PM) - to elicit sensory descriptors, with WTP integrated as an attribute in the verbalisation phase of thePM experiment. Data were analysed using Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA) and Multiple Factor Analysis(MFA).

Results: Four distinct groupings of PBCC samples: Soy-based samples (Groups 1 & 2) were characterised by“processed”, “moist”, “soft”, “smooth”, “synthetic”, and “vegetal” notes, and were associated with a low WTP.Wheat-based (seitan) samples (Groups 3 & 4) were described as “colourful”, “meat-like”, “textured”, “spicy”,“smoky”, and “umami”, and linked to a high WTP. These findings were consistent across both FP and PManalyses.

Conclusion: This study developed a preliminary consumer-derived lexicon for PBCC using rapid sensory methods. The resulting Sensory Wheel is a first attempt at a lexicon for PBCC to be used for the future characterisation ofthis product category, helpful for product development, branding, and marketing. The integration of WTP into the sensory evaluation provides valuable insights for the PBCC sector.

Purpose: The diversification of Nutrition Sciences (NS) in recent decades has highlighted the need to review current practices in relation to funding, communication and interaction with stakeholders. The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) Presidential Activity “Improving standards in the science of nutrition” established three working groups to develop consensus documents. This paper is part of Working Group 2 (WG2) “Organisation, Capabilities and Funding” and aims at describing the European Nutrition Research Landscape, addressing its diversity, challenges and future perspectives.

Methods: WG2 developed two rounds of questionnaires designed to map the current funding architecture in FENS member countries. Questionnaires were administered to representatives of national NS member societies in 2022 and desk research was carried out to describe the main European Union (EU) sources of funding. Qualitative data analysis was performed on questionnaire data collected and agreed and approved by WG2.

Results: 42% of representatives responded to the first round of data collection, and 30% to the second round of data collection. Results indicate that the NS field is mainly funded by public agencies, private actors, and by contract. Most calls are multi-disciplinary and the majority of societies were aware of risks posed by engagement with the private sector and financial conflicts of interest (COI).

Conclusion: This exercise provides an insight into the funding landscape across Europe for NS and highlights the uniquely multifaceted funding sources and dynamics across the continent. This work also underscores the challenges NS faces and progress made with issues surrounding COI and the associated reputation of NS.

Background and Objectives: The social and economic attitudinal dimensions of sustainability are difficult to estimate and are often overlooked in consumer research. To date, few scales can be used to assess in a combined manner the importance given by consumers to social, economic and environmental sustainability. In the frame of the EU-funded HealthFerm Project, a scale to estimate the relative importance of three dimensions of sustainability was necessary. Therefore, the objective was to develop and test a short scale that would englobe all the keywords that are present in the definition of sustainable development and that would assess the importance of each dimension inthe eyes of consumers. Methods: A test-retest reliability study with a sample of volunteers (n = 15) who agreed to fill out the questionnaires twice. Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate internal consistency. A paired samples t-test was used to evaluate the repeatability of the scale. Results:Of the 15 respondents, seven were women (46.7%); the mean age was 23.5 years (s.d.: 2.4); 66.7% lived in an urban area and 33.3% in a suburban area; 53.3% had a higher education; 46.7% of the sample described their economic situation as neither easy nor difficult. Regarding their diet, 26.7% were flexitarian, 66.7% omnivore and 6.7% pescetarian. There was no difference (paired samplest-test; p-value > 0.05) between the two time points, indicating that the scale is reliable. Furthermore, the scale showed very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.98). Conclusion: The shortscale can be used to evaluate how important the different dimensions of sustainability of fermented plant-based foods are to consumers.