March 3, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

In February 2019 Israeli startup Tastewise announced the launch of its AI-powered intelligence platform designed to predict rapidly changing food trends and consumer tastes. 

Founded by former Google exec Alon Chen, and Eyal Gaon, Tastewise’s platform is able to “capture food innovation in real time”, giving industry professionals, and investors in the space the ability to be ahead of the curve.

Today, the internet and social media have fostered accelerated globalization and a collective heightened consciousness in regard to how consumers make food choices, and their views surrounding those choices.

Leveraging proprietary AI and the food and beverage industry’s largest dataset including more than 1 million restaurant and delivery menus, 22 billion-plus social interactions, and more than 5 million home recipes, Tastewise works with food brands, manufacturers, ingredient companies, and flavor houses including Nestlé, PepsiCo, Givaudan, Campbell’s, and Kraft Heinz, to enhance new product development, build marketing strategies, and accelerate retail and restaurant sales. 

To fuel the growth of this platform, Tastewise announced it has raised a $17 million Series A led by Disruptive AI, who joins existing investors PeakBridge, and PICO Venture Partners, to bring total funding raised by the company to-date to $21.5 million. 

The timing of this round and the abilities that Tastewise brings to the table are more pivotal than ever. The global pandemic has had a massive effect on how people eat and drink – they are more informed, more demanding, and most critically, more digitally savvy.

Currently, 25 percent more consumers are interested in sustainability in their food, and 33 percent more people are making food and beverage choices based on functional wellness compared to just last year. 

Based on this current rate of evolution in both consumer needs and the innovation being seen in food and beverage development, Tastewise data indicates that the bulk of what we are eating today will see significant change over the next decade.

“So much of what we eat and drink may change over the next decades,” said Izhar Shay, former Israeli Minister of Science & Technology and venture partner at Disruptive AI, “and Tastewise is positioned to help the world’s most significant food and beverage brands build the future of this huge market. Our investment in Tastewise’s mission will help create endless opportunities for the entire industry, from major brands to small newcomers, to change the market fundamentally through data-backed innovation.”

With Tastewise in their corner, the food industry will be armed with data-driven solutions that will drive the discovery of new flavors and product ideas, develop content for marketing campaigns, and uncover new sales opportunities with restaurant and retail outlets by integrating billions of data points across social media, recipes, and restaurant menus.

Since its inception, the company has accurately predicted the emergence of multiple trends throughout the pandemic:

~ The rise of health as the leading driver of plant-based popularity. Today health is 2.4 times more important than animal welfare for plant-based eaters. 

~ The rise of functional health. Since the beginning of 2021, 33 percent more consumers are eating foods and beverages for their functional benefits.

~ The influence of digitization on how, when, and what people are eating. Nineteen percent of all U.S. restaurants are now on all three of the major delivery platforms, and, in  the last month alone, 63 percent of all U.S. restaurants have changed their online menus.

Alon Chen, co-founder and CEO of Tastewise, explained, “The way people choose what to eat and drink is transforming in the face of the global pandemic, climate change, new technologies, and increased interest in health — and everything we eat in the near future will be fundamentally different. Tastewise is uniquely positioned to help the food and beverage industry forge this new reality.”

Having already experienced rapid growth and tripled revenues, Tastewise plans to use the capital from this round to expand into new markets including Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and India.

“Today’s consumers require food and beverage that responds to their needs and provides solutions to their problems – from the personal to the planetary,” said Chen. “This latest round of investment in Tastewise will enable us to take our cutting-edge technology to more players in the market as we work together to create a healthier, tastier, and more sustainable industry.”

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– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.