Jun 22, 2026 · 35 min · 10 segments
In this special episode of *Omnivore*, **Anupama Joshi** of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and **Alon Chen**, co-founder and CEO of Tastewise, join the podcast for a preview of the…
Anupama JoshiGuest
Alon ChenGuest
Bill McDowellHost
Mary Ellen Kuhn
Kelly Hensel
I did want to start out by talking about the keynote that you're going to be giving at IFT first, and you're framing it around turning signals into solutions.
So I'm wondering for somebody who's going to be attending, who's looking, you know, they're in charge of making those decisions, those innovation decisions.
Why is this moment different from five years ago or even different from two years ago? Because everything's changing so fast.
Now, the long answer is that I started building AI for food and beverage back in 2017.
2018, we already established a company and we've been working with thousands of brands.
So expectations are different all around, right? So consumers have different expectations because when they're scrolling today on their feeds, everything is so much more hyper-personalized to their needs, sometimes overly personalized to their needs, right? And, you know, some interesting facts is that consumers believe more agentic influencers than real influencers when they come to do like a real purchase decisions, because at least they're not feeling that they're being, you know, manipulated because they saw this is actually someone who is an agent.
It's not someone who's pretending to be a, you know, an influencer and he's trying to promote me a product.
And so I think that when consumers are going through such a robust, uh, profound, you know, changing their lives or everything is a lot more exciting.
And, um, and tailored when they open up their door to shop, they already see things that, you know, they almost feel like someone was reading my mind.
And then you come to the food industry and things are not as automated and fast moving.
And I think that what's happening in the food industry today, and I'm giving you it as a perspective as someone who's been there for like eight years, no longer than that, is that You know, my mom never used a laptop or a computer.
I did want to start out by talking about the keynote that you're going to be giving at IFT first, and you're framing it around turning signals into solutions.
So I'm wondering for somebody who's going to be attending, who's looking, you know, they're in charge of making those decisions, those innovation decisions.
Why is this moment different from five years ago or even different from two years ago? Because everything's changing so fast.
Now, the long answer is that I started building AI for food and beverage back in 2017.
2018, we already established a company and we've been working with thousands of brands.
So expectations are different all around, right? So consumers have different expectations because when they're scrolling today on their feeds, everything is so much more hyper-personalized to their needs, sometimes overly personalized to their needs, right? And, you know, some interesting facts is that consumers believe more agentic influencers than real influencers when they come to do like a real purchase decisions, because at least they're not feeling that they're being, you know, manipulated because they saw this is actually someone who is an agent.
It's not someone who's pretending to be a, you know, an influencer and he's trying to promote me a product.
And so I think that when consumers are going through such a robust, uh, profound, you know, changing their lives or everything is a lot more exciting.
And, um, and tailored when they open up their door to shop, they already see things that, you know, they almost feel like someone was reading my mind.
And then you come to the food industry and things are not as automated and fast moving.
And I think that what's happening in the food industry today, and I'm giving you it as a perspective as someone who's been there for like eight years, no longer than that, is that You know, my mom never used a laptop or a computer.
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