Fortalecimiento del emprendimiento RIMPE – NEGOCIO POPULAR para análisis de posicionamiento de mercado en los productos de chocolate de cacao en el sector de Solanda.

Abstract

In the chocolate industry, there are many competitors; however, the lack of information has limited the growth of several ventures, creating knowledge gaps and opportunities for development. This academic article aims to analyze the impact of quality criteria on 70% cocoa chocolate produced by the venture “PEPACAO,” using the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology, which enables the identification of strategies oriented toward the sustainable development of the business. Through the use of statistical techniques and expert evaluations from the chocolate industry, key criteria were initially identified: flavor and organoleptic profile, cocoa variety, aroma, texture, and sugar content. Together, these criteria represent 70.8% of all expert opinions. In this regard, the most important and highly relevant factor based on the Individual Contribution Percentage (ICP) was flavor and organoleptic profile, accounting for 24% ICP. This was followed by the conching and refining process with 23% ICP, and thirdly, the cocoa variety with 19% ICP. Finally, aroma and sugar content contributed 17% to the ICP, indicating that although these are sensory criteria, they play a significant role in consumer perception. Moreover, the results reflect a low level of dispersion in most of the attributes, indicating consensus among the experts, except for the cocoa variety, which showed greater variability in the responses. Lastly, it is concluded that there are no significant differences in consumer perception between PEPACAO and its main competitors (KITU and WOOW), although there is high internal consistency in expert evaluations of the quality criteria, which reinforces the validity of the analysis and its usefulness for formulating sustainable improvement strategies.