CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF A DRINK BASED ON LEMON JUICE WITH CAPSULES FILLED WITH HIBISCUS TEA AND VODKA

Consumers are increasingly looking for products that please their palate and enhance the gastronomic experience. The encapsulation technique has been used as an innovative method in the presentation of foods and drinks, such as Bubble Teas, a tea-based drink with capsules filled with fruit nectar. Due to the growing alcoholic beverage market and its constant search for innovation, this work aimed to study consumer perception regarding a lemon juice-based drink containing capsules filled with hibiscus tea and vodka obtained by reverse spherification. The research was carried out online through the Google Forms® platform using a questionnaire randomly distributed to participants, obtaining greater heterogeneity in response profiles. For data collection, participants were presented with a Clear and Informed Consent Form approved by the UFSJ Ethics Committee (CAAE N. 52545121.0.0000.5151). Word association and emoji association techniques were used to carry out the study and analyzes with the chi-square test to correlate the data obtained. Among the participants (509), 352 were women and 155 were men. For the most part, the age group was well distributed between 18 and 45 years old with an undergraduate level of education. Only 106 participants (20.8%) had already consumed some type of drink containing spheres or capsules. Using the word association technique, 1527 terms were cited by respondents when asked about words related to the drink containing spheres that were grouped into 6 categories: “Sensory” (27.6%), “Innovation” (20.7%), “Positive Adjectives” (15.6%), “Food and Drinks” (19.5%), and “Negative Adjectives” (11.0%). The most selected emojis were the smiling face with heart eyes and the happy face with smiling eyes, indicating adoration, happiness, and satisfaction. There was an excellent acceptance of the drink by the public, with a high willingness to try it (83.5% of responses as “I would certainly try it” and “I would probably try it”).