Application of Quality Function Deployment for the development of an organic product

• The application of the QFD to develop food products has been reported in the literature.
• QFD was designed for other industries so changes are needed for an application in the food sector.
• The first QFD matrix for an organic fruit jelly includes the principal actors in the supply chain.
• The ingredient instructions and the production processes influence the functional properties.

The application of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method to develop food products has been reported in a number of studies. Nevertheless, QFD was originally designed for other industrial sectors, and as such, certain adjustments are necessary for an effective application in the food sector. In this context, this study aims at demonstrating an application of QFD in the development of an organic product. There has been growing global demand for this type of product in recent years. This type of QFD application is not empirically consolidated in the literature. Thus, this study might be considered a pilot work. A QFD conceptual model consisting of four matrices was constructed to develop an organic fruit jelly. The main adaptation is in the first matrix, which includes the key players in the supply chain. As food’s ingredients have natural variations in composition, the interactions among the ingredients are to be considered. In addition, the influence of the production processes on the product’s functional properties and the effects of the supply chain on the ingredients ensure that this type of product development has different variables compared to other QFD applications for non-food products. Therefore, the conceptual model used in this study may serve in the development of other food products. This study asserts that the element of socio-environmental responsibility is essential for developing an organic product because this dimension comprised one-third of the relative weight of the planned quality.