What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Tastewise is trend tracking to inform product development.
I can provide a specific example of how I have used Tastewise for trend tracking and product development. When going into customer presentations where we have identified opportunity gaps for different categories, we pull category trends that will support the development of new items to help close that gap. For example, in the sandwich category, we examine which flavors, carriers, and proteins are trending within sandwiches that we can leverage to support innovation. We also have the ability to narrow the scope to that specific audience, which is a capability within Tastewise.
How has it helped my organization?
Tastewise has impacted my organization positively by demonstrating that we have broader use of tools and that we are able to leverage different insights from a variety of sources, which builds more legitimacy of our insights and support for customers. It has allowed us to develop internally as well as work with our customers externally in product development and ensure that we are on trend and closing gaps in opportunities that might be missed otherwise.
In my role, Tastewise typically serves as a conversation starter rather than achieving the end goal. It is possible that you may see a close sale down the road, but I do not have specific metrics on that.
What is most valuable?
Tastewise offers many different options for slicing and dicing the information, the ability to query in different categories, and the ability to hone into specific audiences by demographics, retail shopper profiles, and other factors. There is considerable depth and variety in the type of information Tastewise can provide.
Audience filtering and category querying features help me in my day-to-day work as it is beneficial to create more customer-specific views. Each analysis is tailored to the customers we are working with. Whether it is a retailer, an operator, or a convenience store, we have been able to use pre-existing audiences or work with Tastewise team to build audiences that did not exist prior and then create custom views for their shopper groups.
What needs improvement?
Tastewise can be improved because it has many different data sets and options to explore, and the platform is confusing. It is hard to navigate and not intuitive, so I do not thoroughly enjoy using the tool. The self-service portion on the dashboards is difficult to navigate and can be hard to build reusable functions. If you are using the briefs, which can be more tailored and effective, they require more lead time, which is not always possible with the type of work I am doing. Usually, we are looking for quick turnaround on these projects, so that can be frustrating. We also feel that the output of some of their data is not entirely reliable. Some of the numbers and trends they share do not entirely make sense, which makes us question the legitimacy of the data they are providing.
Regarding Tastewise's AI capabilities, the accuracy and reliability of output is not strong because I have recognized aspects that do not make sense in the data outputs. Knowing that a large portion of their panel is actually AI-generated and not real people makes me question the reliability further. If it is based on consumer conversation, is that conversation valid? It is still being discussed, so they capture it. However, it is difficult to trust the reliability of the data.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tastewise for approximately six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Tastewise is relatively stable and I do not believe it has been crashing, but it is slow to run. From the data back end, there are some questionable outputs in the data.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Tastewise appears to be able to handle larger workloads or more users as our needs grow since everyone is able to access it from within our organization, and everyone is able to submit as many briefs as they want. I could see it being scalable across different roles in the company.
How are customer service and support?
Tastewise customer support is very attentive and responsive. I would rate the customer support as an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Datassential, but I am not entirely sure why we switched. I think it was because of thoughts around it being more customizable, but I was not part of that decision. I have also used tools such as Circana Crest and Technomic in the past, which I believe are more user-friendly, although Tastewise does allow for a more granular view into trends than Circana Crest.
What was our ROI?
I do not feel that Tastewise has saved time because it is hard to navigate and learning a new tool is challenging. I know our product teams have probably been using it more, but I do not feel there has been a return on investment considering the price was significant compared to other tools we have used in the past. I do not believe many people are thrilled with the outputs.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have not been involved with pricing decisions, but I know it is expensive compared to other tools we have used in the past.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was not part of the evaluation process, but I do not believe there was a larger evaluation of different tools. It was more of a decision between Tastewise or maintaining our contract with Datassential. I do not know if anything else was in consideration.
What other advice do I have?
The depth and ability to examine information differently is valuable. However, I am not certain if the output of the data is reliable. I have used other trend tools in the past that have both the ability to access and interact with data as well as pre-built consumer trend reports and consumer insight reports that add value. These pre-existing reports can be used as-is, making access very quick. Tastewise feels very manual and the data is questionable at times, with a need for longer lead time and a lack of pre-built reports. I have not considered governance and security in terms of integration into those areas. I do not know whether Tastewise is deployed in my organization as a public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, or on-premises solution. My overall rating for Tastewise is six out of ten.
