Alon Chen is the CEO and Co-Founding father of Tastewise, a number one client intelligence platform powered by information and generative AI. Beneath his management, Tastewise is remodeling how meals and beverage manufacturers develop tasty, wholesome, and sustainable merchandise by unlocking real-time client insights. Trusted by world giants equivalent to Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Kraft Heinz, the platform helps firms speed up product innovation, streamline advertising and marketing, and enhance retail and foodservice efficiency by way of AI-driven workflows. With a mission to empower smarter decision-making throughout the meals ecosystem, Chen is on the forefront of leveraging AI to form the way forward for what we eat and drink.
Tastewise was impressed by your mom’s Shabbat dinner. Are you able to share extra about that second and the way it sparked the concept for the corporate?
At one level, I seen that everybody in my household had totally different diets, diet plans, and meals preferences. For my mom — who all the time prepares unbelievable Shabbat dinners and invitations the entire household — this grew to become an actual problem. She needed to maintain monitor of everybody’s evolving dietary wants whereas nonetheless making a meal that introduced us all collectively.
One week, she’d put together a conventional dish with rooster, solely to comprehend there have been vegetarians on the desk. One other time, she’d serve rice, forgetting that a few of us have been following a keto weight-reduction plan. The frustration of attempting to accommodate everybody began to take a toll.
That’s when it struck me—this wasn’t only a problem for dwelling cooks; it was a a lot greater subject for the whole meals and beverage business. If even a home-cooked meal required a lot adaptation, how might companies successfully sustain with ever-changing client preferences? That realization was the spark that led to Tastewise.
How did you establish that the meals and beverage business was prepared for an AI-powered insights platform like Tastewise?
Once we launched Tastewise in 2018, AI was nonetheless uncharted territory. Many companies – and even our buyers – have been unsure about its potential and the way it might remodel industries. However one factor was clear: the meals and beverage business desperately wanted innovation.
On the time, 90% of latest product launches have been failing, largely on account of outdated, guide processes like client surveys and focus teams. These strategies have been gradual, expensive, and infrequently did not seize real-time client preferences. It wasn’t simply that the business was prepared for AI-driven insights—it wanted them.
Tastewise was constructed to bridge that hole. We leverage AI to assist manufacturers streamline product growth and market methods and this basically frees groups from doing tedious guide work and permits them to relatively concentrate on creativity, technique, and significant innovation.
How did your expertise at Google as CMO for Greece and Israel put together you for launching Tastewise?
My time at Google was instrumental in making ready me to launch Tastewise. As CMO for Greece and Israel, I constructed a $2 billion on-line enterprise, which gave me invaluable expertise in scaling B2B operations, driving market share, and understanding the nuances of digital progress.
There, I realized firsthand find out how to leverage data-driven decision-making, innovation, and expertise to resolve complicated enterprise challenges — abilities that grew to become the inspiration for Tastewise. That have positively helped me acknowledge the ability of AI in uncovering client insights and shaping the way forward for the meals and beverage business.
Tastewise leverages generative AI for client insights. How does the expertise work, and what units it other than rivals within the area?
Tastewise’s generative AI is particularly crafted for the meals and beverage business, leveraging seven years of specialised information to supply real-time insights into what, why, and the way folks eat.
Our AI analyzes an unlimited array of information – spanning 75 billion social media posts, 1 trillion on-line recipes, 160 million evaluations, over 4 million eating places (each chains and independents), and 600,000 grocery objects. This enables us not solely to trace present client consuming habits but additionally to foretell rising meals and beverage developments with excessive accuracy, giving manufacturers a aggressive edge in staying forward of business shifts.
This stated intelligence is nothing with out motion. What units Tastewise aside is our skill to remodel these insights into actionable income alternatives. Our merchandise streamline workflows, guaranteeing environment friendly execution. For instance, the platform’s Innovation Dashboard simplifies pattern discovery, whereas TasteGPT will immediately generate AI-powered concepts for brand new merchandise based mostly in your objectives.
One other instance is one thing like our Content material Company which converts these insights into high-performing advertising and marketing campaigns. Collectively, these instruments allow manufacturers to capitalize on progress alternatives by enhancing shelf presence, increasing menu choices, or boosting product utilization—empowered by AI-driven execution.
How do you make sure the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated insights, and what challenges have you ever confronted in coaching fashions for such a distinct segment business?
At first look, AI for the meals and beverage business might sound area of interest, however in actuality, it’s centered on a $10 trillion world market that touches each facet of our every day lives. Digitalization has amplified its attain, with food-related content material, equivalent to Instagram posts about meals, now constituting 20% of all on-line content material—underscoring that meals is not only a market, however a central a part of the digital dialog.
Once we began seven years in the past, we relied on conventional AI fashions lengthy earlier than generative AI grew to become mainstream. The insights we gathered over time from these fashions supplied a robust basis for validating the accuracy and relevance of our generative AI outputs.
By cross-referencing new insights with established information, we guarantee a excessive stage of reliability in our outcomes. Whereas no AI system is ideal, this strategy permits us to take care of accuracy and refine our fashions successfully.
Tastewise processes huge quantities of information from menus, social media, and client conduct. What particular machine studying fashions or methods does your platform use to generate actionable insights?
At Tastewise, we leverage a mixture of superior machine studying methods to remodel huge quantities of information into actionable insights. Analogizers, sometimes used for unsupervised studying, assist us cluster information based mostly on related patterns, even when these patterns are usually not predefined. As an example, we use Analogizers to categorise (or group) retailer chains.
Connectionist fashions, like neural networks, enable us to categorise demographics and behavioral teams, which we consult with as audiences. In the meantime, Symbolyst’s tree and forest fashions are used for entity matching—connecting totally different supply platforms to the identical Tastewise entity. On this course of, we depend on a constant set of options (equivalent to identify, deal with, and telephone quantity) and apply comparatively inflexible guidelines to make sure correct matching throughout platforms.
Collectively, these fashions allow us to supply companies with exact, data-driven insights that not solely inform strategic selections but additionally anticipate future foods and drinks developments.
TasteGPT has recognized progress in distinctive dessert preparation strategies, equivalent to infusing and grilling. What different culinary improvements are on the horizon?
Tastewise’s newest insights reveal an interesting evolution in how shoppers strategy dessert and meals preparation. Whereas methods like infusing and grilling proceed to achieve traction, different distinctive strategies are additionally rising in recognition, reflecting shifts in texture preferences, eating experiences, and even portion sizes.
One of the crucial notable developments is soaking, which has seen a 30% year-over-year enhance. Soaking includes submerging substances in liquid to boost texture, taste, or dietary properties. Historically related to in a single day oats, this methodology is increasing into new territory, equivalent to infused grains and pre-soaked nuts for various dairy merchandise.
One other method gaining consideration is tenderizing, up 25% YoY. Tenderizing is the method of breaking down muscle fibers in meat or altering the feel of plant-based substances to create a softer chunk. The rise in curiosity might point out a rising client desire for extra refined, melt-in-your-mouth textures throughout varied cuisines.
On the experiential facet, hibachi cooking has grown by 18% YoY, signaling a heightened curiosity in high-heat, interactive eating. Hibachi is a Japanese grilling fashion the place substances are cooked at excessive temperatures on an open grill, usually in a theatrical, partaking method. Whether or not at eating places or in dwelling kitchens, this pattern displays the attraction of immersive cooking experiences that deliver each leisure and daring flavors to the desk.
Lastly, the idea of miniaturization can be on the rise, with a 14% YoY enhance. Miniaturization includes creating smaller, bite-sized variations of conventional dishes or desserts, usually emphasizing portion management and aesthetic attraction. The demand for gourmand small plates, petite pastries, and individually portioned treats suggests that buyers are in search of indulgence in a extra balanced and customizable approach.
What are among the most stunning developments or insights Tastewise has uncovered lately within the meals and beverage area?
In Fall 2024, we continued our custom of releasing the Taste Developments Report, highlighting probably the most disruptive meals and beverage developments shaping 2025
One of the crucial placing developments is the rise of Center Jap flavors, significantly Yemeni spices like hawaij and black lime. As shoppers search out daring, warming flavors, hawaij – a wealthy mix of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves – is rising as the following huge factor in drinks, poised to problem the long-reigning pumpkin spice.
Whereas taste exploration is on the rise, financial realities are shaping how youthful generations strategy meals. With affordability in thoughts, Gen Z is gravitating towards Filipino delicacies, drawn to its wealthy, umami-packed flavors that don’t compromise on style or price.
Past style and affordability, sustainability stays a key driver of client selections, particularly in drinks. Sustainable wine is gaining traction, as eco-conscious drinkers prioritize manufacturers that apply regenerative agriculture and embrace lower-carbon manufacturing strategies.
On the similar time, the well being and wellness motion is evolving within the wake of GLP-1 weight-loss medication. Shoppers are more and more in search of personalised diet options that align with their particular person wants, from hormone stability to hydration.
Collectively, these developments level to a future the place shoppers are usually not solely looking for thrilling flavors and cost-conscious meals but additionally making conscious selections that align with their well being and sustainability objectives.
What’s your imaginative and prescient for Tastewise within the subsequent 5 to 10 years, and the way do you see AI evolving within the meals and beverage business?
AI is already a elementary a part of the meals and beverage business construction and client conduct. Shoppers’ consuming habits are already, in some ways, already affected by AI-supported algorithms on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. In the meantime, the business is awash with AI instruments revolutionizing demand prediction and general productiveness.
The business is continually taking part in catch-up with client calls for, resulting in an over 90% failure price for brand new meals and beverage merchandise. In response to the World Financial Discussion board, the meals and beverage business prices over $19 trillion on account of environmental injury and food-related well being points, nearly double what the business itself is value.
I really feel that within the subsequent 5-10 years, firms utilizing AI instruments will begin the shift towards a better equilibrium, the place manufacturers are usually not solely staying on prime of developments however having a far better understanding of them and might transfer quickly from ideation to shelf.
Because of this the 90% failure price will come quickly down, even perhaps to zero, which I discover extra attention-grabbing. We’re already seeing manufacturers like KraftHeinz, Givaudan, Pepsico, and Waitrose pushing new boundaries with their merchandise and advertising and marketing due to their use of AI instruments and platforms.
This shift causes us to ask: What if all innovation succeeds? What if all connects on to your meant viewers? What if each product goes to the proper place?
AI will basically turn out to be an extension of the human group—quicker, extra exact, and always-on. I consider we’ll see a shift from a “useful device” to a “core collaborator.” And what which means for us at Tastewise is profound.
Our imaginative and prescient is evident: Tastewise would be the working system of meals and beverage innovation. We’re not simply constructing an information platform—we’re constructing the go-to atmosphere the place manufacturers dream, take a look at, validate, and execute, multi functional place. That’s what will get me excited.
We’ve already laid the groundwork by pairing actual client conduct with GenAI to automate what used to take groups weeks or months. Our purpose now could be to proceed embedding ourselves deeper into the precise workflows of entrepreneurs, R&D groups, and strategists. Consider instantaneous solutions to complicated questions, built-in throughout the instruments you already use, accessible anytime.
And right here’s why that issues: after we get this proper, we don’t simply assist manufacturers transfer quicker—we lower down on meals waste, defend backside strains, and contribute to a more healthy, extra responsive meals system. It’s higher for enterprise, higher for folks, and higher for the planet. That’s the longer term we’re constructing collectively.
What recommendation would you give aspiring entrepreneurs who need to disrupt conventional industries with AI?
Disrupting a conventional business with AI isn’t nearly having nice expertise—it’s about fixing an actual, urgent drawback. Too usually, firms get caught up within the hype of AI with out a clear function. The bottom line is to begin with the business’s greatest ache factors and ask: How can AI make this smarter, quicker, or extra worthwhile?
In conventional industries, change doesn’t occur in a single day. Many decision-makers are skeptical, counting on legacy programs and acquainted processes. That’s why training is simply as vital as innovation. You must present, not simply inform—use information and real-world success tales to show AI’s worth in a approach that resonates along with your viewers.
On the similar time, flexibility is essential. AI is evolving at an unbelievable tempo, and what works as we speak may not be related tomorrow. Probably the most profitable entrepreneurs on this area aren’t simply tech visionaries—they’re adaptable, all the time refining their strategy based mostly on market wants.
Above all, success comes from assembling the proper group. AI alone received’t disrupt an business—folks will. Encompass your self with consultants who perceive not solely the expertise but additionally the business you’re attempting to remodel. With the correct mix of innovation, training, and agility, AI can go from being a buzzword to an actual game-changer.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to Tastewise.
