The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) has announced a new collaboration with Thimus, a company specializing in advanced use of sensory neuroscience to reshape the way food products and experiences are designed. Thanks to a grant from Alamance Foods, the CIA will employ Thimus’ proprietary T-Box technology to measure and quantify guests’ emotional response to hospitality. The findings will be used to develop curriculum to train the next generation of hospitality industry leaders through the CIA’s Hospitality Academy.

“We are truly excited to explore this new arena for research in the fields of food and beverage and hospitality education,” says CIA provost Mark Erickson. “In this era of near constant engagement with screens, it can be easy to overlook the importance of genuine hospitality—eye contact, warmth, and a feeling that, until now, could not be quantified. This research will be used to develop curricula for CIA's Hospitality Academy training program, which is designed to empower future hospitality leaders to create positive connections with their guests—positive outcomes for their businesses.”

“We were delighted when the CIA approached us to explore using our technology for this novel research,” says Mario Ubiali, founder and chief executive officer of Thimus. “The pairing of our revolutionary technology and our extensive network of House of Humans research centers with the CIA's reputation as a world-class training ground for food, beverage and hospitality professionals seemed a natural fit, and we can't wait to see how the outcomes will help shape the future of the industry.”

Studies will be conducted at both the CIA’s Hospitality Academy, located at its Texas campus in San Antonio and within its New York campus’ School of Culinary Science and Nutrition, located in Hyde Park, New York.

“After seeing firsthand how our collaboration with Thimus transformed our own product development process, I was eager to help bring this project to life,” says Mohan Valluri, executive vice president at Alamance Foods. “This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission at AFI Labs to drive innovation by blending science, emotion, and consumer insight. We believe the outcomes of this study will have a lasting impact on the future of hospitality and food experience design.”

The project will begin this month, with research starting after initial local training of resources in June.