AI-Generated Food Concepts

In an effort to develop new products that, unbeknownst to consumers, they desire, PepsiCo leveraged AI and data analytics "to uncover what people are eating and why." Through the use of a tool called 'Tastewise,' the brand was able to analyze immense amounts of online food data to determine what consumers are actually searching for and ordering in their daily lives.

"If you would’ve asked consumers, ‘tell me what your favorite flavors are and let us know what you think would be a great flavor for this brand,’ nobody would have ever come up with seaweed. People don’t associate that typically with a specialty snack from a brand. But because of the kind of listening and the outside-in work that we did, we were able to figure that out through the AI that’s embedded in that tool," said Stephan Gans, chief consumer insights and analytics officer at PepsiCo.

The brand also leverages 'Black Swan Data,' a tool that examines social conversations around food on Reddit, Twitter, blogs, and review boards -- to name a few. In addition to measuring the volume of a conversation over time, the tool considers the context and whether it is relevant to the business. Gans describes this ability as "social prediction."

One notable innovation that came about from this research was 'Off the Eaten Path,' a seafood-based savory snack. We can expect to see more brands leverage "social prediction" tools in order to fulfill unrealized consumer desires.