Trio Earn Research Honors at Enometrics Conference

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Robert Harrington

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Professor Robert Harrington, assistant professor Han-Seok Seo and research assistant Jieun Min from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas recently won top research presentation honors at the Enometrics XX Conference in Talca, Chile.

Harrington holds the 21^st Century Endowed Chair in Hospitality, while Seo and Min are both members of the department of food science.

Their study was “Food and Wine Pairing: The Effect of Education and Test Repetition on Hedonic and Intensity Ratings.”

The study focused on the following questions: When classic food and wine marriages are compared to non-marriages, is the hedonic relationship higher across a diverse group of individuals? Does education on food and wine impact hedonic ratings of food and wine match? Does completion of a food and wine education program impact intensity ratings for key wine elements such as tannin, sweetness level and acidity level?

“Food and wine pairing ‘rules’ are abundant in popular literature but only a small amount of empirical studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals on the subject of food and wine pairing,” said Harrington. “Studies on the impact of food and wine education have been even more limited.”

Harrington leads the hospitality and restaurant management concentration in the School of Human Environmental Sciences. He is the author of “Food and Wine Pairing: A Sensory Experience.”

“I was honored that our study received the top research presentation award,” said Harrington. “It was particularly exciting to receive this award for two years in a row at this prestigious conference.”

Harrington earned top honors at last year’s conference in Coimbra and Viseu, Portugal, with his study “The Impact of Food and Wine Knowledge, Wine Acidity Level, Wine Sweetness Level, and Wine Tannin on Perceived Match with Food.”

The enometrics conference features an international group of researchers in wine economics and research on the quantification of gastronomic relationships. Enometrics refers to a discipline devoted to measurement of activities and products linked to wines.

“I am really happy and honored that our collaborative study was featured at the Enometrics Conference,” said Seo, who teaches sensory science. “I am especially excited that our interdisciplinary project between hospitality and sensory science was a big success. I believe that interdisciplinary collaboration has strong potential in education as well as research areas, which was observed in this study.”

Seo teaches sensory science and is the coordinator of the Sensory Service Center. He earned doctoral degrees from Seoul National University in Korea and in otorhinolaryngology — the study of issues related to the ear, nose and throat — from Technical University in Dresden, Germany.

“I am honored that this study was selected for the top research award,” said Min. “I have studied culinary science and food service in Korea, and extended my background to sensory science in the U.S. This study was a really exciting experience because I could integrate my previous and current backgrounds together while conducting this project.”

Min earned her master’s in food service and culinary management from Kyonggi University in Korea. She has more than six years of experience in the food service and hospitality industries with Starbucks and Kraze Burger.

Harrington also recently teamed with Godwin-Charles Ogbeide, associate professor of hospitality, to win the Johnson & Wales Case Study Competition Award in the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education case study competition.