Heather Smyth

Dr Heather Smyth is a flavour and sensory scientist who has been working with premium food and beverage products for over fifteen years.

Current projects involve specialty coffee, beer, wine, native plant foods, cocoa, meat and seafood, tropical fruit, cereals, dairy products and some processed products. Dr Smyth has a special interest in describing and articulating food quality, understanding the influence of terroir on locally grown produce, and modelling food flavour and textural properties using instrumental measurements. Heather collaborates with a number of companies and research groups to discover what consumers enjoy about food that aids in the design and production of superior products with increased consumer value.

Heather is also heavily involved in training industry and researchers in the application of sensory and consumer evaluation methods.