24 Hour Validation to Award-Winning Tea: Tata and Tastewise

What Tastewise allows me to do is no longer guess but back up an instinct with data; I can now say this flavour has momentum and we should act — rather than waiting for it to hit the shelf somewhere else.” - Mark Donovan | Head of Botanicals, Flavours & Innovation | Tata International

Innovation driven by intuition, not real-time consumer data
Bold concepts like Pumpkin Spice Chai dismissed in traditional research
Product development required up to 20 iterations
Difficulty aligning internal teams around new ideas

Data-backed validation turned instincts into action
Pumpkin Spice Chai concept validated in under 24 hours
Development streamlined to just 1–2 iterations
Internal buy-in accelerated through clear, consumer-led insights

Introduction

Tata Consumer Products UK partnered with Tastewise to turn a high-potential idea, Pumpkin Spice Chai, into a validated, award-winning product using real consumer insight and AI. The teams moved from instinct to evidence, from broad briefs to tight execution, and from lengthy iteration to rapid refinement.

Challenge

Before partnering with Tastewise, Tata faced the following challenges:

Traditional research dismissed bold concepts like Pumpkin Spice Chai
Product development often required up to 20 iterations before lock
Innovation relied on intuition without real-time consumer data
Hard to secure internal alignment for unconventional ideas

Why Tastewise

Creative confidence: Tata could champion Pumpkin Spice Chai knowing demand was validated by live consumer data
Speed to clarity: Concept viability confirmed in under 24 hours with survey and sentiment signals
Sharper briefs: Insight-led requirements removed ambiguity for R&D and reduced rework
Early signal detection: Social, recipe and menu data surfaced momentum long before traditional launch trackers.

Solution

AI-led discovery: Identified Pumpkin Spice Chai as an opportunity through live research with approximately 5,000 consumers
Rapid validation: Built a minimum viable concept and messaging in 4 to 5 hours; finalized a tight development brief the same day
Focused development: Reduced cycles to 1 to 2 iterations by aligning technical and marketing teams around the same data
Evidence-based storytelling: Equipped stakeholders with consumer-backed rationale, packaging concepts and language that matched demand

Results

24-Hour Validation: Concept confirmed in under one day.
4–5 Hour MVC: Minimum viable concept and messaging created within hours.
1–2 Iterations vs 20: Development locked quickly with tight, insight-led briefs.
1 AI-Generated Tea: Tata launched its first AI-led product to market.
Great Taste Award Win: Pumpkin Spice Chai recognized for quality by judges.
4–5 Star DTC Reviews: Early customers rated the tea highly post-launch.
1 New Chai Platform: Pipeline exploration initiated for future chai innovations.

Overall

Tastewise transformed Tata’s front end of innovation from guesswork to data-driven execution. By uniting real consumer signals with a collaborative workflow, Tata accelerated decision-making, minimized iteration, and launched a distinctive, award-winning product while building a repeatable model for future flavor platforms.