PENGEMBANGAN PRODUK MAKANAN COKELAT BERBASIS PREFERENSI KONSUMEN

The cocoa commodity is very important to the Indonesian economy and has the potential to be the main producer of chocolate products in the world. The consumption level of national chocolate per capita of 0.3kg/person/year with an increasing trend, is a good market opportunity including for small and medium enterprises (SME) chocolate processing industry. The objective of this research was to develop the quality of local chocolate products based on consumer preference to be more competitive in the domestic market. In this study, interviews and filling questionnaires to consumers who regularly eat chocolate foods, in order to determine the level of importance and level of customer satisfaction, were conducted. There were eleven sensory attributes that were asked to consumers where consumers provide less satisfied assessment of chocolate products consumed were taste, texture, aroma, product appearance, portion, variety, freshness, health, packaging, price fairness, and discount. The result of calculation and analysis of IPA (importance performance analysis) found that attributes that need development were those in quadrant A, i.e. taste, texture, aroma, product apperance, variety, freshness, health, and packaging. Keywords:chocolate, cocoa, customer preference, importance performance analysis