Menu innovation moves fast. Operators and chefs need consumer insights and sensory data to back their creative instincts—but when research lives scattered across platforms, folders, and emails, decision-making slows to a crawl. Givaudan's Taste & Wellbeing team in Europe discovered this firsthand, and their solution delivers a lesson for every kitchen and concept focused on competitive menu advantage.

The Kitchen Problem: Lost Insights, Lost Time, Lost Opportunity

Flavor creation is both science and art. When your product development team designs a new dish, beverage, or line extension, it needs backing from real consumer and sensory insights. But accessing those insights wasn't always easy for Givaudan's European team—and the same friction likely exists in your operation.

Research lived across external platforms, internal systems, personal folders, and colleagues' memories. Answering a single customer brief often required knowing where information lived and who to ask. Some team members went the extra mile to track everything down; many understandably didn't, because it took too much time.

The result was slower decisions, growing reliance on guesswork when evidence couldn't be found quickly enough, and mounting fatigue that threatened insight-led product strategy. For any operator or chef trying to move faster than competitors, that's a competitive liability. What teams really needed was simple: a "Google for research" that made insights easy for everyone to find and use—fast.

From Scattered Data to Actionable Intelligence

Givaudan's CSI team works across beverages, sweet goods, dairy, savory, snacks, and healthcare—categories where taste creates competitive advantage. The team supports internal stakeholders across marketing, sensory, and technical groups, plus external customers ranging from global to regional food and beverage manufacturers.

After evaluating options, they selected Stravito, a platform purpose-built to unify research and accelerate insight-led decisions. Four factors drove the choice—all relevant to any operator weighing tools for menu development.

User experience mattered first. Stravito felt modern, intuitive, and self-explanatory. Teams could understand it within minutes, without heavy training—critical for driving adoption across chefs, product managers, and operators who need fast answers, not training sessions.

Speed to value came second. The team wanted a solution they could implement quickly, including integrations with key external content providers. Stravito supported both the technical setup and the internal rollout—meaning faster time to ROI.

Support and service proved essential. The Stravito team demonstrated a service mindset aligned with B2B food and beverage culture. As Basak Oker, a key stakeholder, noted: "The attitude made a big difference. You could feel, 'We're here for you.'"

Business value closed the case. Stravito wasn't chosen for being cheap, but because overall value—combining speed, usability, support, and adoption—made clear financial sense. For operators managing menu ROI, that's the only metric that counts.

Real Results: Faster Menus, Smarter Decisions, Better Kitchen Productivity

Even shortly after launch, impact was clear—and directly applicable to your menu strategy.

On many projects, decision-making is now 3x faster—and in some cases up to 10x faster. With an AI assistant surfacing relevant internal and external research quickly, projects that once took weeks can now be completed in days or even hours. For a kitchen or concept testing new menu items, that acceleration translates directly to faster market entry and competitive advantage.

Easier access to existing insights also means less duplicated work. Teams can support more briefs with the same resources, while operators are less likely to commission new research when the answers already exist. That reduces waste and frees budget for genuinely new questions—critical for operators managing tight margins.

The platform also powers two types of menu work. For proactive innovation—such as designing signature or "iconic" dishes—teams immerse themselves in category, consumer, and sensory trends more quickly and systematically. For reactive briefs—responding to seasonal opportunities or regional preferences—teams rapidly understand local market dynamics, bringing their own research and external sources together in one place. This leads to richer internal conversations and more informed, confident pitches to suppliers and customers.

Beyond Speed: Freeing Your Team to Create

Beyond productivity gains, there's a human dimension. When people spend less time searching and synthesizing—and more time creating, collaborating, and innovating—your kitchen culture shifts. As Basak reflects, the platform gives people "more time to think about new opportunities and new ideas – and maybe have some time to themselves… more time at home with their loved ones, kids, or dogs, or cats."

For operators, that means less burnout, faster innovation cycles, and teams that have mental space to think strategically about menu positioning rather than getting lost in data.

Today, Stravito operates across regional and local marketing and CSI teams in Europe. The roadmap extends the platform further into organizations—particularly to sales and key technical stakeholders—so more people can lead insight-driven conversations with suppliers and customers. While broader global initiatives continue to evolve, one reality is clear: speed and confidence in decision-making now matter more than ever for competitive menus.

The Technology Behind Faster Menu Decisions

Stravito is an Insights Intelligence Platform trusted by global brands to turn existing research into confident, growth-driving decisions. Purpose-built for insights teams, it pairs AI with human expertise to apply vetted knowledge in decision-critical moments. The platform unifies research in a secure space where teams ask strategic questions and receive synthesized, source-cited answers via an AI Assistant. AI Personas—built from your own segmentation studies—simulate authentic consumer perspectives, enabling teams to stress-test products, campaigns, and strategies in real-time. The result: evidence-backed decisions, accelerated market impact, and commercial momentum.

Founded in Sweden in 2017, Stravito is trusted by global leaders including Nestlé and Comcast. The company is ISO 27001 certified, SOC 2 Type II attested, and has been recognized in the Financial Times' FT 1000 list of Europe's fastest growing companies.