The Doctoral Thesis presented in the following pages, the author presents a case of his professional specialty to demonstrate that Multicriteria Decision Methods are applicable to product development projects in the field of Food Engineering. The real case under study relates to functional foods, a category of important growth, and scientific and industrial interest in several countries and recently in Venezuela. The project proposes a novel methodology that applies in a sequential and complimentary way, Multicriteria Decision Techniques: The Analytic Hierarchy Process-AHP and Choice Based Conjoint Analysis –CBC to the above mentioned case , to establish priorities of preference among various staple food categories and the ultimate optimization of attributes that a food concept with added functional ingredient should have in order to achieve the highest probability of success in the Venezuelan Market. For the application of the methodology to the case study, a variety of qualitative information was colected, among which a market survey, individual interviews and focus groups with experts and consumers. This information was used for the design of the necessary surveys to define a set of concepts and criteria for AHP and of attributes and levels for CBC. The field work was conducted in Caracas, Venezuela between march 2008 and august 2009. The food categories that were evaluated with AHP methodology were: cereals, bread, juice, yoghurt and ice cream, to which six health benefits were attached: provides with nutrients, regular use prevents diabetes, helps keep normal cholesterol levels, helps with the digestive system , insures an optimal mental performance and provides additional energy. Combining these categories and benefits a total of 30 concepts (idealets) was obtained and these were ranked by a team of multidisciplinary experts, based on the following criteria: comprehension, novelty, need, attractiveness, risk, trust , helps improve metabolic function , helps reduce risk of disease , price and purchase intention. In view of the high number of alternatives, the Method of Aboslute Scales (Rating method) was used. AHP results showed that a yoghurt that helps the digestive process was ranked as first priority of preference. Having selected this concept, a group of Intrinsic and Extrinsic attributes was designed that match local conditions: flavor, texture, functional ingredient, fat content and price, each at three levels. With these attributes 36 miniconcepts were subject to Choice Based Conjoint Analysis to establish the optimal combination of levels of these attributes and the share of the market. The Web based survey, was carried out in Caracas to a representative sample of 250 regular users of yoghurt. The product containing pieces of fruit, firm texture, which regulates intestinal function, low fat, with sweetener (Splenda) and intermediate price (Bs.F.5,00)achieved the highest utility value according to the method of Simple Recount and the Logit method. A market simulation was carried out with the Models of Randomized First Choice and the method of Share of Preference.