How AI is Revolutionizing Food Innovation: Insights from Tastewise CEO Alon Chen

From Family Dinners to Industry Innovation

Alon Chen, CEO and Co-Founder of Tastewise, draws inspiration from his mother’s Shabbat dinners, where catering to diverse dietary needs was a constant challenge. This personal experience revealed a larger issue faced by the food and beverage industry: the difficulty in keeping up with rapidly evolving consumer preferences. Tastewise was born from this insight, aiming to provide real-time consumer intelligence powered by AI to help brands create better products.

The Need for AI in Food and Beverage

When Tastewise launched in 2018, AI was still new to many businesses. The food and beverage industry, with a 90% failure rate in product launches due to outdated consumer research methods, was ripe for transformation. Tastewise uses AI to replace slow, manual processes, enabling companies to innovate faster and more effectively.

Leveraging AI and Data to Understand Consumers

Tastewise’s generative AI analyzes an extensive dataset, including 75 billion social media posts, 1 trillion recipes, 160 million reviews, and millions of restaurants and grocery items. This deep data pool allows Tastewise to track current eating habits and predict emerging trends with high accuracy.

Unique AI Techniques Behind Tastewise

The platform employs advanced machine learning models such as Analogizers for clustering, neural networks for audience classification, and tree and forest models for entity matching across delivery platforms. These combined methods deliver precise, actionable insights that help brands anticipate and respond to consumer demands.

Emerging Culinary Trends Identified by Tastewise

Recent trends include the rise of unique dessert preparation techniques like infusing, grilling, soaking (up 30% YoY), tenderizing (up 25% YoY), hibachi cooking (up 18% YoY), and miniaturization of dishes (up 14% YoY). These trends reflect changing consumer preferences for texture, dining experience, and portion control.

Surprising Insights Shaping 2025

Tastewise’s Flavor Trends Report highlights the growing popularity of Middle Eastern spices such as hawaij, the rise of Filipino cuisine among Gen Z for affordable yet flavorful meals, and sustainable beverage choices like eco-friendly wines. Additionally, personalized nutrition solutions are evolving alongside new weight-loss drugs, emphasizing health and wellness.

Vision for the Future of AI in Food Innovation

Alon Chen envisions AI becoming a core collaborator in food and beverage innovation, drastically reducing the failure rate of new products and enabling faster, smarter decision-making. Tastewise aims to be the operating system where brands can dream, test, validate, and execute ideas efficiently, contributing to less food waste and a healthier planet.

Advice for Entrepreneurs Disrupting Traditional Industries

Chen emphasizes the importance of addressing real problems rather than chasing AI hype. Success requires education, flexibility, and assembling a team with both technological and industry expertise. AI, combined with human insight and agility, can transform traditional sectors into innovation leaders.