Portrait

1. INSIDE 54 | 45
People
Burkhard Dettmar
Sense and sensibility
People
44 | INSIDE 54
These pages have frequently featured
people intimately involved with the
production of cigarettes: a leaf buyer, a
master blender, a machine operator… But
Burkhard Dettmar takes the science – or
art? – of manufacturing cigarettes to an al-
togethermoreesotericlevel.BasedinTrier,
Burkhard’s mysterious job title is Manager
of Sensory and Statistics, and his work
involves complex empirical research with
a focus on sensory evaluation.
With a diploma in psychology, specializing
in mathematical psychology, Burkhard
joined JTI’s Leaf and Blend Department
in 1999, at that time located in Cologne,
after his studies. “At university I had been
a statistics tutor, and had also worked
for an advertising agency analyzing and
presenting consumer data,” he says, “so
I had already acquired some of the skills
required for the job. Our work in Cologne
was initially about evaluating the taste of
single-grade tobacco and maintaining the
quality of recipes. Then, in 2005, taking
the lead from JT, the Sensory team was
established. The team’s responsibility was
to set up sensory panels to evaluate pro-
totypes, our own products, and those of
ourcompetitors.Suchapanelwilltypically
consist of ten to fifteen people – enough
to be able to differentiate representatively
among the products. What we’re look-
ing for is termed the ‘commonalities of
perception.’ In the case of cigarettes,
that means people’s shared perceptions
of smell, taste, and smoke. This type of
sensory work is not only done on tobacco
products, but also in the food, automobile
and skincare industries.
“Part of my job today is to recruit and moti-
vate panelists. Before testing, they will talk
about, say, smoking, and agree on certain
attributesthattheyassociatewithit.These
attributes help us to analyze the data we
gather from such panels. While we do
our own consumer testing, we’re evaluat-
ing larger numbers of products for their
strengths and weaknesses than a normal
consumer-testing team would. Let’s say
thatwefocusondesiredsmokecharacter-
istics rather than brands. This kind of work
is the Sensory team’s general contribution
to research and development.”
Applied science
Burkhard is perhaps being a little too
modest here. The Sensory team’s work is
more than a “general contribution.” It is so
exceptional that not only has it attracted
the attention of the tobacco industry as a
whole, but has also earned the acknowl-
edgement of the world’s rarefied circle of
sensory specialists. “You could certainly
call sensory research an applied science,”
Burkhard says. “I’ve been attending the
worldwide Sensory Congresses since
2007, and presented a poster to the 700-
odd participants at this year’s event held
in Rio de Janeiro. As a result, I was asked
to talk about our findings at two future
conferences. This is a great honor, as the
sensory world is small and speakers there
are usually highly regarded scientific au-
thorities affiliated with notable universities
and national research institutions. I’m very
proud to have been asked to speak at such
a prestigious event – and delighted to see
the JTI name there. It’s a great opportunity
forustobeabletodemonstrateourprofes-
sionalism in this field, provide examples
of our state-of-the-art sensory work, and
communicate all this openly to the world.”
Music to my ears
Communication is also important to
Burkhard outside the professional arena.
He may focus primarily on the senses
of taste and smell at work, but in his
leisure time auditory perception takes
center stage – in various ways. On the
one hand, Burkhard enjoys the thrilling
roar of his Harley-Davidson motorbike on
the open road. On the other, he sings in
a church choir. He also has a penchant
for the Romantic composers. “I espe-
cially admire the drama of Mahler and
Wagner,” he says. “When listening to
them, I go through an entire range of
emotional experiences – tenderness, sad-
ness, passion…” And the spoken human
voice also plays a role. Burkhard listens
to others, voluntarily offering his skills
as a psychologist for a crisis helpline.
“During my studies I soon realized that
an academic career wouldn’t have been
the right thing for me. But this way I’m
still able to provide psychological advice,
by helping young people to help the vic-
tims of bullying at school, for example.
While enabling me to do good, this also
satisfies one side of my original interest
in psychology.”
Best of both worlds
Burkhard’sdecisionnottopursueapurely
academic career has evidently been the
right one. “Working in a practical field is
definitely an advantage,” he affirms. With
ever-tightening regulation, however, the
discipline of sensory evaluation will face
increasing challenges in the near future.
“Recently introduced regulations have
furtherlimitedopportunitiesforconsumer
testing. Sensory evaluation is an internal
matter and thus less directly affected by
these regulations. In the future, though,
assessing our products’ market position
will be based more on objective prod-
uct description, focusing on potentially
negative characteristics such as irritation
and harshness, as well as positive char-
acteristics such as clearness of tobacco
taste. All this is equally fascinating, due
to the human factor. We generally tend
to overestimate our own consistency and
assume that others see the world as we
do. And blind evaluation – such as a
winetasting session – is surprisingly dif-
ficult.Thisiswhystatisticalevaluationwill
always be important, ensuring that we
maintain a stable perception and appre-
ciation of our products among different
groups of people. I want to be part of all
this, taking the opportunities our work
gives me to promote our own research
and development on the one hand, and
on the other, by publishing articles, for
example, to contribute to the scientific
community as a whole.” A mutually ben-
eficial arrangement...
The link between tobacco and mathematical
psychology isn’t exactly obvious. Sensory
psychologist Burkhard Dettmar effortlessly
unites this unlikely duo.
“You could certainly
call sensory research
an applied science.”