Personalization is coming for your tongue

Can’t decide what to choose off the menu? Unsure what you’ll end up enjoying? Vivanda, Inc. is here to help.
The Baltimore-based tech company is dedicated in helping people discover new food experiences with its predictive food and flavor personalization service, FlavorPrint. Rather than trying to explain how FlavorPrint works, Vivanda decided to show it in action on May 29 during a dining experience at University City’s CoZara.
A special five-course menu developed by Chef Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka highlighted some of the 33 flavors that make up FlavorPrint’s profiling. The Hawaiian Tuna Poke consisted of fruity and heat flavors while the Pork Belly Kakuni was rich, buttery and onionish.
Those qualities, represented visually with a ring of colors corresponding to each flavor, could then be compared to the FlavorPrints of participating diners. The profile is constructed by taking an online 20-question survey of certain foods, textures and nutritional preferences you like or don’t like. (This reporter’s FlavorPrint had cheesy, cooling and tomatoey flavors stand out.)

After spinning out of spice giant McCormick & Company back in December, Vivanda has been hard at work expanding the accessibility of FlavorPrint as a service that not only can be used from home but anywhere in the “network of food.” However, Paul Strzelec, president and COO of Vivanda, said that McCormick is still a big promoter of FlavorPrint.
“But now we have the funding, enthusiasm and startup entrepreneurial environment to take it to the next level,” Strzelec said. “What’s great about that is we can bring it to restaurants, we can share it with other manufacturers and products and we can take it to retailers and make use of it in ways that they have a trusted third party to work with.”
“A lot of the tech that we’ve been [working on] over the last six months is the tech to take it everywhere,” Jerry Wolfe, CEO of Vivanda, added.
Strzelec and Wolfe say that we can expect to see FlavorPrint being integrated with everyday experiences through various partnerships, like a grocery website recommending promotional products based on your embedded flavor profile and even specific recipes being tailored to your tastes.
As users continue to interact with their FlavorPrint, the personalization it offers will continue to develop, even considering consumers’ “contextual” factors like cooking skills, materials on hand and how much time is available.
“That’s the whole idea behind the business model,” Wolfe said. “It’s to represent you.”
Vivanda certainly has a lot on its plate with reaching out to companies and making the FlavorPrint experience as personable as possible, but Chef Zama believes in the potential of the technology’s applications after his involvement in University City.
“I know it takes time but I think this will be a cool tool,” Zama said.
If you missed out on CoZara, don’t worry. Strzelec promises Vivanda will return to Philly sometime soon for another FlavorPrint dining experience.
Until then, you can get your own FlavorPrint or explore the company’s free iOS app.