Frequently Asked Questions

What to expect as a panelist

We contact our panelists via e-mail regarding an upcoming study. You will receive an e-mail from sensory@oceanspray.com We recommend saving this email address to your contacts or “safe list” to ensure emails from us do not end up in your spam/junk email folder. The email message will have information about the study and will include further instructions. This email may be sent out as early as two weeks prior to the study or as soon as 1-3 days before the study date. Your expected testing may be as frequent as several times a month to very infrequently where you will only be contacted for a study once or twice during a 6-month period or longer. Not everyone will qualify to participate in every study. Panelist selection is made through information gathered in the Panelist Information Questionnaire and any supplemental questionnaire we may send out.

Scheduling

Once you have signed up for an appointment time for any given study, it is very important to adhere the time you select. If the day and available appointment times do not work with your schedule and you cannot guarantee yourself to participate on the day and available times, we kindly ask that you do not sign up to participate. Signing yourself up for a time slot that you cannot guarantee to keep takes away an available slot for someone else that is guaranteed to participate.

Should you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment, we highly recommend e-mailing us first at sensory@oceanspray.com before placing a call to the Sensory Research Center (508-923-3918)

You have the right to decline any invitation to a taste test. Also, you have the right to leave the panel for any reason, at any given time.

Payment

For each study that you participate in and complete, you will be authorized to receive a $25.00 gift card for up to 30 minutes of your time. Once you have completed the study, you must print and sign your name on the sign-out sheet that is located on the front desk at the Sensory Research Center.

Each study is limited to one half hour. We develop our questionnaires to only take a maximum of one half hour to complete although most will complete the entire study within 20 minutes. Should we require a study to be more than one half hour, we will provide this information to you prior and additional payment will be adjusted.

The gift card that you receive is simply an incentive and it is NOT to be considered or relied on as a source of income. Due to tax filing restrictions, panelists can receive a maximum of $599.00 in a calendar year. That does not necessarily indicate that you will reach this limit.

Campus and Parking Information

Handicap parking is available directly in front of The Sensory Research Center building. You must have proper identification visible in your vehicle in order to utilize this space.

General parking is available in the parking lot close to The Sensory Research Center. You may park your vehicle in any available parking spot and then walk along the pathway to enter the building.

Smoking is not allowed anywhere on Ocean Spray grounds; this applies to smoking in your vehicle while on Ocean Spray property.

Important Rules for taste testing:

We have the right to terminate your membership in the panel at any time if you do not adhere to all of the following REQUIREMENTS:

You are required to present a valid, government-issued form of identification to a staff member before you can participate in any taste test. (ex: driver’s license)

Please do not eat, drink, or smoke 30 minutes prior to participating in taste tests.

Please limit the use of strong cologne/perfumes, shampoo or hair spray on testing days.

Please silence the volume on your cell phone when you are in The Sensory Test Center. Should you need to answer an urgent call, please excuse yourself into the hallway and take your call.

Please DO NOT bring any children or guests with you to any taste tests. Anyone that is not participating in a taste test should NOT be accompanying you. Please also note that children under the age of 18 are not allowed in The Sensory Research Center due to liability laws. Please be quiet when entering The Sensory Research Center, as others that are currently taking the study need to concentrate.

Should any of your medical or contact information change, please notify us at sensory@oceanspray.com as soon as possible.

If you need eyeglasses or contact lenses to read, please bring them with you; you will be reading and answering a questionnaire.

If you would like information to pass along to a family member, friend, etc., on how to get on the taste testing panel, please ask about our Panelist Recruiting Program or visit www.cranberrytaster.com

Please do not discuss any information involving the sensory research studies you participate in. Information with respect to Ocean Spray Sensory Research studies is proprietary and confidential.

The Sensory Research Center is closed on all national Holidays. If schools in the Bristol County and surrounding counties have been cancelled due to inclement weather, the test center will also close down even if a study is scheduled for that day.