Developing tailor-made plant-based dishes with adolescents for school canteens

School interventions can have a significant impact on promoting plant-based (PB) diets, which can benefit both health and environmental sustainability. This co-creation and repeated exposure study was conducted in a high school and is divided into 3 parts, a) Co-creation with adolescents (aged 12-16) and chefs to develop innovative PB dishes, b) Global profile (liking, sensory properties, emotions) of the new dishes, c) Repeated exposure for 6 weeks. Using a combination of techniques, 25 adolescents and four chefs took part in iterative sessions of focus group discussions to identify ideas for new PB dishes. Interviews were conducted with 17 adolescents who tasted the five most-liked dishes, using the EmoSemio approach to define a global profile questionnaire. This was then used with 147 adolescents that were characterised for taste responsiveness and food neophobia, to study their liking, sensory/emotional responses to the dishes. The most promising dish was chosen and a 6-week exposure experiment was conducted with 60 adolescents. Results indicate that all five dishes were accepted (mean liking=54.6/100). Taste responsiveness and neophobia were significantly associated with the dish liking, with students who were less responsive to taste and more neophobic liking the dishes less (p < 0.0001). Individual differences were further explored through preference mapping combined with hierarchical clustering. Four clusters with distinct hedonic patterns were identified, with two dishes, different in terms of sensory properties, being accepted by all clusters. One of the two induced positive emotions higher in arousal and novelty and appeared the most viable for school canteen use. Liking and positive emotional responses for the selected dish remained stable during a 6-week repeated exposure experiment, unlike a control dish with a plain taste. Co-creation with adolescents and chefs was effective for developing innovative and accepted PB dishes for school canteens. KEY MESSAGES: • Co-creating with adolescents and chefs and understanding individual differences are promising strategies for developing innovative and well-received PB dishes for sustainable school meals. • Segmenting for psychological traits and taste responsiveness and evaluating the Global Profile of healthy PB dishes in terms of sensory/emotional profile is essential in developing tailor-made dishes.