Our Institute

Classic yet modern: Using psychology to maximize research learning

About Us

The Davis Sensory Institute, LLC, was established in 2017 to provide food, beverage, cosmetic, medical, and personal care companies with a unique partner in their sensory and consumer research projects.

Our world-renowned science laboratory is the result of over 25 years of fundamental and applied research that began at the University of California, Davis and is now continued at the Davis Sensory Institute.

Our investigations have touched all aspects of the field, from discrimination testing (with pioneering work on Thurstonian models and the tetrad test) to the optimization of descriptive analysis methodologies and the improvement of preference testing investigations.

"Essence"

Illustrated by Kazuko Ishii

Photo by Cindy Ketchum

Classic yet modern.

The People of the Greater Sacramento Area and Solano County

The Greater Sacramento area and Solano County include populations with diverse backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and education levels. Many of their citizens often carry innovative and environmentally conscious mindsets. The focus on sustainability leads to a large population of health-centric, plant-based and organic product users.

Aside from a large representative population of consumer product users, this population is also enriched by more specialized groups:

A significant number of residents employed in association with the University of California, Davis (UCD), resulting in many who work in services such as education, healthcare, information technology, research and public service.
Large numbers of international visitors who provide a rich source of global native consumers, especially Japan, China and Latin American countries.
A large retirement community.