Alon Chen is the CEO and Co-Founding father of Tastewise, a number one shopper intelligence platform powered by information and generative AI. Beneath his management, Tastewise is reworking how meals and beverage manufacturers develop tasty, wholesome, and sustainable merchandise by unlocking real-time shopper insights. Trusted by international giants corresponding to Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Kraft Heinz, the platform helps firms speed up product innovation, streamline advertising and marketing, and increase retail and foodservice efficiency by 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 observed that everybody in my household had completely different diets, vitamin plans, and meals preferences. For my mom — who at all times prepares unbelievable Shabbat dinners and invitations the entire household — this grew to become an actual problem. She needed to preserve observe 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 hen, solely to appreciate 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 loss plan. The frustration of making an attempt to accommodate everybody began to take a toll.
That’s when it struck me—this wasn’t only a problem for house cooks; it was a a lot greater problem for your complete meals and beverage business. If even a home-cooked meal required a lot adaptation, how may companies successfully sustain with ever-changing shopper 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 may rework industries. However one factor was clear: the meals and beverage business desperately wanted innovation.
On the time, 90% of recent product launches have been failing, largely because of outdated, guide processes like shopper surveys and focus teams. These strategies have been gradual, pricey, and infrequently didn’t seize real-time shopper 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 improvement and market methods and this basically frees groups from doing tedious guide work and allows them to quite deal with 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 getting 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 muse for Tastewise. That have positively helped me acknowledge the ability of AI in uncovering shopper insights and shaping the way forward for the meals and beverage business.
Tastewise leverages generative AI for shopper 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 offer real-time insights into what, why, and the way individuals eat.
Our AI analyzes an enormous array of knowledge – spanning 75 billion social media posts, 1 trillion on-line recipes, 160 million critiques, over 4 million eating places (each chains and independents), and 600,000 grocery gadgets. This permits us not solely to trace present shopper 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 mentioned intelligence is nothing with out motion. What units Tastewise aside is our skill to rework these insights into actionable income alternatives. Our merchandise streamline workflows, making certain environment friendly execution. For instance, the platform’s Innovation Dashboard simplifies pattern discovery, whereas TasteGPT will immediately generate AI-powered concepts for brand spanking new merchandise primarily based 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 international market that touches each facet of our every day lives. Digitalization has amplified its attain, with food-related content material, corresponding 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 offered 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 method permits us to take care of accuracy and refine our fashions successfully.
Tastewise processes huge quantities of knowledge from menus, social media, and shopper habits. What particular machine studying fashions or methods does your platform use to generate actionable insights?
At Tastewise, we leverage a mix of superior machine studying methods to rework huge quantities of knowledge into actionable insights. Analogizers, usually used for unsupervised studying, assist us cluster information primarily based on comparable patterns, even when these patterns will not be predefined. For 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 confer with as audiences. In the meantime, Symbolyst’s tree and forest fashions are used for entity matching—connecting completely different supply platforms to the identical Tastewise entity. On this course of, we depend on a constant set of options (corresponding to identify, handle, and cellphone quantity) and apply comparatively inflexible guidelines to make sure correct matching throughout platforms.
Collectively, these fashions allow us to offer companies with exact, data-driven insights that not solely inform strategic choices but additionally anticipate future food and drinks developments.
TasteGPT has recognized progress in distinctive dessert preparation strategies, corresponding to infusing and grilling. What different culinary improvements are on the horizon?
Tastewise’s newest insights reveal a captivating evolution in how shoppers method 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.
Some of the notable developments is soaking, which has seen a 30% year-over-year improve. Soaking includes submerging substances in liquid to reinforce texture, taste, or dietary properties. Historically related to in a single day oats, this methodology is increasing into new territory, corresponding to infused grains and pre-soaked nuts for various dairy merchandise.
One other approach 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 chew. The rise in curiosity could point out a rising shopper choice for extra refined, melt-in-your-mouth textures throughout varied cuisines.
On the experiential aspect, 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 house 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 also be on the rise, with a 14% YoY improve. Miniaturization includes creating smaller, bite-sized variations of conventional dishes or desserts, usually emphasizing portion management and aesthetic attraction. The demand for connoisseur small plates, petite pastries, and individually portioned treats suggests that buyers are searching for indulgence in a extra balanced and customizable method.
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 Tendencies Report, highlighting essentially the most disruptive meals and beverage developments shaping 2025
Some of the putting 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 massive 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 method 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 value.
Past style and affordability, sustainability stays a key driver of shopper decisions, 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. Customers are more and more searching for customized vitamin options that align with their particular person wants, from hormone steadiness to hydration.
Collectively, these developments level to a future the place shoppers will not be solely looking for thrilling flavors and cost-conscious meals but additionally making conscious decisions 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 basic a part of the meals and beverage business construction and shopper habits. Customers’ 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 total productiveness.
The business is continually enjoying catch-up with shopper calls for, resulting in an over 90% failure price for brand spanking new meals and beverage merchandise. In accordance with the World Financial Discussion board, the meals and beverage business prices over $19 trillion because of environmental injury and food-related well being points, virtually 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 higher equilibrium, the place manufacturers will not be solely staying on high of developments however having a far higher understanding of them and might transfer quickly from ideation to shelf.
Because of this the 90% failure price will come quickly down, maybe even to zero, which I discover extra fascinating. 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 best place?
AI will basically turn out to be an extension of the human workforce—quicker, extra exact, and always-on. I imagine 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 a knowledge platform—we’re constructing the go-to setting the place manufacturers dream, check, validate, and execute, multi function place. That’s what will get me excited.
We’ve already laid the groundwork by pairing actual shopper habits with GenAI to automate what used to take groups weeks or months. Our aim now could be to proceed embedding ourselves deeper into the precise workflows of entrepreneurs, R&D groups, and strategists. Consider on the spot 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 reduce down on meals waste, shield backside strains, and contribute to a more healthy, extra responsive meals system. It’s higher for enterprise, higher for individuals, and higher for the planet. That’s the longer term we’re constructing collectively.
What recommendation would you give aspiring entrepreneurs who wish 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 downside. Too usually, firms get caught up within the hype of AI and not using a clear function. The secret’s 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 schooling is simply as vital as innovation. You need to present, not simply inform—use information and real-world success tales to show AI’s worth in a method that resonates along with your viewers.
On the similar time, flexibility is essential. AI is evolving at an unbelievable tempo, and what works at the moment won’t be related tomorrow. Essentially the most profitable entrepreneurs on this area aren’t simply tech visionaries—they’re adaptable, at all times refining their method primarily based on market wants.
Above all, success comes from assembling the best workforce. AI alone gained’t disrupt an business—individuals will. Encompass your self with specialists who perceive not solely the expertise but additionally the business you’re making an attempt to rework. With the correct mix of innovation, schooling, 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.
