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 world giants comparable to Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Kraft Heinz, the platform helps firms speed up product innovation, streamline advertising and marketing, and enhance retail and foodservice efficiency via 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, diet plans, and meals preferences. For my mom — who all the time prepares unimaginable Shabbat dinners and invitations the entire household — this turned 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 standard dish with rooster, 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 eating regimen. 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 residence cooks; it was a a lot larger problem for your entire meals and beverage business. If even a home-cooked meal required a lot adaptation, how might 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?
After 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 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On the time, 90% of recent product launches have been failing, largely because of outdated, guide processes like shopper surveys and focus teams.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, expensive, 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 moderately 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 the way to leverage data-driven decision-making, innovation, and expertise to resolve advanced enterprise challenges — abilities that turned the inspiration for Tastewise. That have undoubtedly 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 folks eat.
Our AI analyzes an unlimited array of knowledge – 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 gadgets. This enables 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 remodel these insights into actionable income alternatives. Our merchandise streamline workflows, guaranteeing environment friendly execution. For instance, the platform’s Innovation Dashboard simplifies development discovery, whereas TasteGPT will immediately generate AI-powered concepts for brand 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 world market that touches each facet of our each day lives. Digitalization has amplified its attain, with food-related content material, comparable 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.
After we began seven years in the past, we relied on conventional AI fashions lengthy earlier than generative AI turned mainstream. The insights we gathered over time from these fashions offered a powerful basis for validating the accuracy and relevance of our generative AI outputs.
By cross-referencing new insights with established information, we guarantee a excessive degree 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 remodel 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 aren’t 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 check 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 (comparable to title, handle, and telephone 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, comparable to infusing and grilling. What different culinary improvements are on the horizon?
Tastewise’s newest insights reveal an interesting 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.
One of the 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 technique is increasing into new territory, comparable to infused grains and pre-soaked nuts for different 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 chew. The rise in curiosity could point out a rising shopper desire for extra refined, melt-in-your-mouth textures throughout numerous 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 model the place substances are cooked at excessive temperatures on an open grill, typically in a theatrical, participating method. Whether or not at eating places or in residence kitchens, this development displays the attraction of immersive cooking experiences that convey 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, typically emphasizing portion management and aesthetic attraction. The demand for gourmand small plates, petite pastries, and individually portioned treats suggests that customers are searching for indulgence in a extra balanced and customizable means.
What are a number of the most shocking developments or insights Tastewise has uncovered just lately within the meals and beverage area?
In Fall 2024, we continued our custom of releasing the Taste Developments Report, highlighting essentially the most disruptive meals and beverage developments shaping 2025
One of the placing developments is the rise of Center Jap flavors, notably 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 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 price.
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 identical time, the well being and wellness motion is evolving within the wake of GLP-1 weight-loss medication. Shoppers are more and more searching for customized diet options that align with their particular person wants, from hormone stability to hydration.
Collectively, these developments level to a future the place shoppers aren’t solely searching for thrilling flavors and cost-conscious meals but additionally making aware 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. 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 total productiveness.
The business is continually enjoying catch-up with shopper calls for, resulting in an over 90% failure price for brand new meals and beverage merchandise. Based on the World Financial Discussion board, the meals and beverage business prices over $19 trillion because of environmental harm and food-related well being points, nearly double what the business itself is price.
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 aren’t solely staying on high of developments however having a far higher understanding of them and may transfer quickly from ideation to shelf.
Which means that the 90% failure price will come quickly down, maybe even 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 appropriate place?
AI will basically grow to be an extension of the human workforce—quicker, extra exact, and always-on. I consider we’ll see a shift from a “useful instrument” to a “core collaborator.” And what meaning for us at Tastewise is profound.
Our imaginative and prescient is obvious: 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 atmosphere the place manufacturers dream, check, validate, and execute, multi functional 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 purpose now’s to proceed embedding ourselves deeper into the precise workflows of entrepreneurs, R&D groups, and strategists. Consider on the spot solutions to advanced questions, built-in throughout the instruments you already use, accessible anytime.
And right here’s why that issues: once we get this proper, we don’t simply assist manufacturers transfer quicker—we lower down on meals waste, shield backside traces, 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 want to disrupt conventional industries with AI?
Disrupting a standard business with AI isn’t nearly having nice expertise—it’s about fixing an actual, urgent downside. Too typically, firms get caught up within the hype of AI with out a clear objective. 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 techniques and acquainted processes. That’s why training is simply as essential as innovation. You must present, not simply inform—use information and real-world success tales to show AI’s worth in a means that resonates together with your viewers.
On the identical time, flexibility is essential. AI is evolving at an unimaginable tempo, and what works in the present day 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 method primarily based on market wants.
Above all, success comes from assembling the appropriate workforce. AI alone gained’t disrupt an business—folks will. Encompass your self with specialists who perceive not solely the expertise but additionally the business you’re making an attempt to remodel. With the right combination 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 study extra ought to go to Tastewise.
