The folks at Shamrock Farms are tapping into their local community to taste test new flavors of milk and other dairy products. “Roxie’s Taste Buds” is made up of 15 children aged 6 to 12 years and is in its second year of taste testing. Sounds like a good gig to me!
The 6-to-12-year-olds have an impact on the new flavors launched by the milk company. Representing various parts of the Valley and Tucson, they were selected out of a pool of nearly 180 applicants and meet with Shamrock quarterly. Last year, the kids helped influence the taste of Cookies & Cream and Root Beer Float-flavored milk.
“The single-serve milk is really geared towards kids, so we really want their feedback on what kind of new flavors that we could come out with,” said Molly Watson, associate brand manager for Shamrock.
On a recent Saturday, a makeup artist gave each kid a milk mustache. Their photos were posted on Shamrock’s Web site and may be used in marketing materials and an advertisement.
They also bellied up to a table to taste-test ice cream: Pumpkin Patch Pie and Peppermint Stick Forest. A Shamrock representative wanted to know: How did the color look? How did it taste? The kids also had ideas for future milk flavors: caramel apple or maybe chocolate mint.