The aim of this work was both to formulate three different fibre-enriched products by the addition of Brewery Spent Grain (BSG), and to evaluate the impact of this fibre enrichment on sensory quality, acceptability, and purchase intention under blind conditions. BSG was incorporated into bread, pasta, and chocolate milk at levels of 8.3%, 2.8%, and 0.35% (w/w), respectively. The fibre-enriched products and their regular counterparts were evaluated together by consumers through a CATA questionnaire, the EsSense 25 Profile, an overall acceptability rating, and a purchase intention ranking. Although fibre-enriched bread and chocolate milk ranked lower in overall acceptability compared with their counterparts, no significant difference was found for fibre-enriched pasta (p > 0.05). Purchase intention did not differ significantly for both bread and pasta (p > 0.05), yet the reasons for purchasing them differed significantly (p < 0.05). Consumers recognised the fibre enrichment in these two products and, therefore, were willing to partially compromise on sensory attributes. The fibre-enriched chocolate milk, nonetheless, scored significantly (p < 0.05) lower in purchase intention than the control. This work demonstrates that the effect of BSG addition is product-specific, and that fibre perception makes consumers feel more confident.

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is the main brewery by-product, whose main use is animal feed but its incorporation into food can improve nutritional quality and sustainability. However, consumers base food preferences on packaging cues that assign meaning to food products. Furthermore, sustainability communication in food is poorly studied. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the effect of communicating BSG enrichment in beef burgers on consumer responses. Three burger brands were considered and three labels were designed that included information about the addition of fiber. A total of 276 Uruguayans completed an online survey to measure their purchase intention. The way participants were informed about fiber addition did not influence their responses and the brand was the only factor that affected the results. Cluster analysis was applied, identifying four clusters. The brand was always the only significant variable and two of the clusters were highly interested in purchasing the fiber-enriched burgers. The results suggest consumers are interested in the inclusion of BSG in their products and expect information on the origin of the ingredient but not deep communication about the concept of ‘by-products.’