“If you believe in reducing waste, expediting product development, mitigating failed product launches, and increasing consumer satisfaction, then Tastry is the solution for your brand.”
-Katerina Axelsson, CEO and Founder of Tastry
TastryAI is a cost saving SaaS solution that can virtually test new products or formulations before they hit the market and match specific products to specific consumers who will love them. Tastry is a multidisciplinary innovator in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Analytical Chemistry with patented technology revolutionizing the way products are formulated, distributed, marketed, and sold.
Accurated TastryAI – Sensory Sciences at its best
In the ever-growing digital marketplace, manufacturers of sensory-based products, i.e. those products that we taste, smell, and feel, have been at a disadvantage. Smartphones, toaster ovens, and coffee tables have measurements, technical specifications, and relatively objective and relatable reviews. The metrics provide a reasonably reliable way to determine the potential success of a new product. In contrast, sensory-based products have characteristics that are subjective when described and which may be perceived differently because of biology, personal experience, and culture. This explains the unfortunately reliable 85% failure rate of new sensory-based products, but Tastry is changing that.
A novel analytical method and advanced AI, which evaluate the flavor, aroma, texture, and color of sensory-based products similarly to the way human biology does has been developed by Tastry and they call it the “decoding the flavor matrix”. They compare them to the differentiated sensory profile of consumers around the World, what they call “decoding the palate matrix”. Tastry can evaluate any product (or group of products) they analyze, against any palate (or group of palates) that have been provided. In this way TastryAI can determine how well a new product will compete against other products, and how well it will be received by consumers among various geographies or demographics; bringing accurate and actionable visibility into what is too often a haze of intuition.
“We started with wine, which is one of the most difficult and complex products to analyze, but I love working with winemakers because at heart they are all artists, and our joint successes to date have been very rewarding,” said Axelsson.
Tastry is a young company based in Central California, and while they have tested efficacy for everything from fine fragrance to cannabis, they are currently focused on the global beverage alcohol market where they have proven to be effective across the supply chain. An early adopter in the United States was curious to test the efficacy. The test was, they would send 125 blind wine samples, and TastryAI would analyze and predict how those wines were rated in the aggregate U.S. market on a 5-star scale. TastryAI made its predictions, and the conglomerate provided the results; On average, TastryAI had predicted the scores for each wine within 1/10 of a point, about 92.8% accuracy, by only analyzing the chemistry.
As being an emerging company, Tastry launched their consumer product in mid-2019. Since then,Tastry’s technology has proliferated. They help consumers all over the world on a daily basis, from the U.S. to Europe, to Malaysia. Before Tastry started working with manufacturers and distributors, they launched their technology in grocery retail by providing hyper-personalized wine recommendations for retail outlets looking to develop a more meaningful dialogue with their customers. Today, the Tastry recommender is available as a multi-channel solution for websites, mobile apps, and in-store kiosks and touch screens.
Retailers seem pleased with the results. In addition to providing accurate recommendations (increasing customer loyalty by 20%) on average, they boost gross sales by an average of 12%. Tastry also provides product mix optimization to help their clients ensure the best products are on the shelf to meet the preferences of their shoppers on a store, local or regional level. Besides, Tastry and their strategic partner UST, also provide what they call “singularized” marketing, where singular product recommendations are made proactively and automatically on behalf of the retail client when it is appropriate; i.e., “Hey Bob, we just received a new wine that TastryAI reports is a 93% match to you, and a 95% match to your wife.”
Tastry is definitely extending the hyper-personalization trend, but with very strong conscience:
“Our first loyalty is always to the consumer. They are never charged, and we only use zero-party data. That is to say, data that a consumer explicitly and freely provides to us with the expectation, it will only be used to reward them with a better shopping experience,” said Axelsson.
While TastryAI has proven efficacy for varied products, they remain focused on growing existing relationships with several of the largest beverage alcohol producers globally, and in the U.S. The implications are clear, Tastry technology may well prove to be the future of how products are brought to market. Imagine if you knew how many, and who, were going to love your product before it was launched; that you knew exactly where to spend your marketing money – and where not to. Imagine the savings in time, capital, effort, and disappointment, all on a single SaaS platform. If that sounds compelling, Tastry might be your solution.
Interested in how Tastry can help you? Contact us.
Jeff Campbell
VP of Growth
jeff@tastry.com
Bruce Leighton
Director of Winery Relations
bruce@tastry.com