FOOD OPEN PROFICIENCY SCHEME — ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION

FOOD OPEN PROFICIENCY SCHEME — ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION

The Food Open Proficiency Scheme is a structured annual programme designed to train, calibrate, and maintain the flavour identification skills of food sensory panels. Using GMP Pharmaceutical-grade Flavour Standards and a proprietary software platform, it provides food manufacturers with objective, repeatable evidence of their tasters’ sensory capabilities.

£1,200.00 GBP

Quantity:

We ship globally – shipping costs may apply depending on your region

Minimum Order: £275

WHAT IS A FOOD SENSORY PROFICIENCY SCHEME?

The Food Open Proficiency Scheme is designed for food industry sensory panels. Participants complete flavour identification tests across four scheduled rounds per year, logging results via FlavorActiV’s proprietary proficiency software platform. Individual performance is tracked over time, enabling targeted development of each taster’s abilities.

Proficiency testing is the next step after initial flavour training. Flavour training kits covering all 18 scheme flavours are available separately from the FlavorActiV online store.

ANNUAL VS SINGLE ROUND: WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Annual Round Single Program
No of Rounds 4 1
Cost per round £300 £350
TVS Access Full Limited
Certification Yes No
Proficiency Test Flavour Identification Flavour Identification
Subscription Annual subscription Pay as you go

Round Schedule
– Round 1- April
– Round 2- July
– Round 3- October
– Round 4- January

KEY BENEFITS OF JOINING THE FOOD OPEN PROFICIENCY SCHEME

Enrolling your sensory panel provides measurable operational and commercial advantages:

– Reduce quality risk — minimise the likelihood of releasing off-spec or defective products to market
– Lower training costs — structured calibration reduces the need for costly specialist sensory training sessions
– Identify taster strengths and weaknesses — use data-driven insights to develop individual panel members more effectively
– Support staff retention and recruitment — accredited proficiency programmes signal investment in professional development
– Strengthen brand consistency — a calibrated panel helps protect product quality and brand reputation across every batch

WHICH FLAVOURS ARE TESTED?

The scheme covers 18 key flavours relevant to food quality control, spanning basic tastes, off-notes, and process-related defects:

– Sweet
– Sour
– Salty
– Bitter
– Astringent
– Alkaline
– Chlorophenol
– Metallic
– Musty
– Fermented
– Acetic
– Butyric
– Diacetyl
– H2S
– Indole
– Smoky
– Swampy
– Mulchy

HOW DOES THE PROFICIENCY PROGRAMME WORK?

1. Receive your GMP Flavour Standard capsules for the relevant round
2. Conduct the flavour identification test with your panel
3. Log results on the FlavorActiV Open Proficiency Software platform — accessible via mobile or desktop, anywhere in the world
4. Review individual performance data — identify strengths and areas for development
5. Track improvement across all four rounds throughout the year
6. Receive certification upon successful completion of the full annual programme

READY TO CALIBRATE YOUR FOOD SENSORY PANEL?

Add the annual scheme to your cart or contact FlavorActiV to discuss your panel’s requirements.

FlavorActiV GMP Flavour Standards

Only Pharmaceutical Quality GMP Flavour Standards provide sufficient quality for professional sensory panels to train and validate with.

We produce encapsulated GMP (Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practice) Flavour Standards that are safe to both smell and drink. The compounds within our capsules impart the aroma, taste and mouthfeel of a specific defect or positive flavour into a beverage for the purposes of taster training, calibration and quality control.

Our individual flavour GMP Flavour Standards are sold by flavour, each flavour pack contains 5 capsules, each separately blister packaged. Our sensory kits contain a mixture of flavours, each separately blister packaged, read the product description for flavour details.

We ship globally, and have over 20 years of experience at it. Our GMP Pharmaceutical Flavour Standards are produced to the highest standards, and as such, their shelf-life is strong and their quality consistent.

FlavorActiV’s flavour centre is the world’s only pharmaceutically run facility dedicated to the production of flavour reference standards. The Flavour Centre is a state-of-the-art facility housed within the campus of world-renowned Quay Pharma near Liverpool in the U.K.

The Flavour Centre was designed by FlavorActiV from the ground up at the direct request of global customers as they looked to move away from inferior food grade ‘certified flavour standards’ to GMP Pharma, a standard that ensures safe, stable, traceable, consistent and long shelf-life products.

All FlavorActiV’s industry-leading encapsulated flavour standards are manufactured following GMP at our Flavour Centre. All aspects of manufacture are overseen by Quay Pharma who are audited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory agency (MHRA). We also welcome customer audits.

Only FlavorActiV GMP flavour standard capsules bear our mark of authenticity.

We brand each of our capsules so that our customers know they’re getting the Pharmaceutical GMP Quality that only FlavorActiV provide.

Industry leading packaging and shelf-life

FlavorActiV flavour standards are blister packaged, which extends shelf-life and protects capsules from potential contamination. The average shelf-life of FlavorActiV flavour standards is 18 months to 4 years, depending on the flavour compounds.

We will never ship in pots or plastic packaging, here’s why…

Blister packaging protects capsules from the environment until they are ready for use. Blister packaging greatly reduces the amount of headspace for possible flavour escape. As each capsule individually blister packaged, making use of one capsule still leaves all others protected. FlavorActiV Flavour Standard packaging is 100% recyclable, as opposed to polypropylene which is not widely recycled.

Pots are semi-porous, they allow molecules to pass through and flavour to be lost, their significant headspace also adds to substantial flavour escape as a gas, even when using just one capsule all those remaining in the pot are exposed.

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