LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of emerging brands have partnered with Tastebase, a new personalized food and beverage discovery platform empowering up-and-coming makers. Olipop, Fly By Jing, Magic Spoon and Daring Foods are among the companies featured.
Founders Phil Chen and Alex Shebar developed Tastebase to help consumers explore and learn about new snack products based on individual taste preferences and dietary needs. Users may rate products, create custom lists and place orders. The company also is launching a snack rewards program so users may earn points and perks by engaging and contributing content.
“As a longtime snacker and foodie, I would frequently buy new products that looked great, but tasted completely different than I thought they would,” said Mr. Chen, chief executive officer of Tastebase. “After hearing this same experience repeatedly from friends and family, I finally had this a-ha moment and realized there was something missing. Tastebase was created to fill that gap and allow for discovery of new food and beverage products and sharing all in one place. It was also important to us to provide a space for new, emerging brands to easily reach prospective consumers when starting out.”
To join the platform, brands may submit a form for the Tastebase team to review. Participating brands may add product catalogs and tag products to optimize discovery. Brand founders may sell products directly on the platform, respond to reviews and connect with users. Looking ahead, Tastebase plans to create additional tools to help brands reach consumers.
“We’re thrilled to be one of the first partners of Tastebase and to be part of the community its building for brands and food lovers,” said Dina Shi, co-founder of Tochi Snacks. “Community is extremely important to us. We started Tochi Snacks to share some of the delicious flavors of Southeast Asia that hadn’t made it west yet, and we’re excited to be part of this new connected platform of foodies and brands to continue to share those unique tastes and cultures with the world.”