Pivot© profile: A new descriptive method based on free description

• The Pivot© profile is a new frequency-based descriptive method based on free description.
• A pivot product is chosen within the range of products to be evaluated.
• The difference between the pivot product and each other product is described.
• An application on champagne shows the potential of this new approach.
• Simulations indicate a good stability according to the chosen pivot and the panel heterogeneity.

The Pivot© profile is a new frequency-based descriptive method based on free description allowing to record judges’ free expression in an ordinal manner. The strategy implemented in Pivot© profile to capture the relative meaning of descriptors, is to collect a free description of the differences between two products: a target product and a pivot (i.e., a product that will serve as a standard to describe the other products). The repetition of this task using the same product as the pivot, allows supplying a complete description of the set of products. A real life example on champagne showed that Pivot© profile is easy to perform for participants and allows generating meaningful product descriptions. Simulations indicated that the approach is robust for both the choice of the pivot among the products of interest and the heterogeneity of the panel. Both experimental data and simulations highlight the potential of the Pivot© profile. Pros and cons on both experimental and theoretical aspects are discussed comparatively to other fast descriptive methods.