Expert Guides

Launching a Food Product with GPT-5 (Including Prompts)

Authors: Andrea Derrez

 

Artificial intelligence or AI is already being used to help food and beverage brands make better decisions, increase revenues, higher customer satisfaction rates and improve operational efficiency.

For example, Nestlé and Nuritas use AI to identify proteins that enable production of healthy foods. Kraft Heinz is using AI to optimise and enhance its relationships with stores, sales reps, and consumers. Coca-Cola uses AI to determine which soft drinks to stock at various retailers worldwide.

However, only ca 25% of internet users use AI and only a fraction uses it to speed up their food innovations. That's a huge opportunity! 

AI-led Food Product Launch

Yes, AI-generated insights on customer behaviour and inventory can improve your business performance and revenue. But can you use AI to better approach a food product launch?

In our example, we are using basic tool like GPT-5 and we will be getting ready to launch a new artisanal spice blend in Switzerland. We'll explore both how AI can be a catalyst for a successful launch and also its limitations.

These are The Areas Where AI Can Greatly Boost Your Launch.

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Assessing Market Demand

Already when you get your first hunch about a gap in the market or a high potential trend, use this quick hack and confirm your concept or idea in minutes.  

Prompt: “Act as a Food Market Analyst specialized in Swiss consumer trends. I will provide you with (1) a summary of retail sales data for spices in Switzerland (attached document), (2) transcripts of 10 consumer interviews (link), and (3) recent news articles on health & sustainability trends. Cross-analyze these three inputs and identify (a) underserved market niches in artisanal spice blends, (b) emerging consumer values (health, sustainability, indulgence) most relevant for Swiss shoppers, and (c) 3 high-potential positioning opportunities that differentiate us from commodity spice brands.”

Result: Instead of a generic list of “trends,” you get triangulated insights across multiple data sources that highlight actionable whitespace opportunities.

Limitations: GPT cannot access Nielsen/IRI data unless you provide it; it will analyze only what you upload.

Opportunity: This approach accelerates trend synthesis and gives you hypotheses to validate with surveys or retailer discussions. It’s a great starting point for conducting research and accelerates your decision making. For example, if a trend is going on low sodium blends, you can quickly decide whether you join this trend or rather concentrate on crafting distinctive flavours enriched with salts.

Designing Better Products More Efficiently

Start with more open ended queries to get ideas for your food product:

Flavor innovation: Suggest unusual but trending flavor combinations based on cultural influences and food trends.

Product naming: Brainstorm names that align with brand story, target audience, and multilingual appeal.

Packaging concepts: Create mood boards (via image generation tools) and text ideas for packaging claims.

Cross-industry inspiration: Borrow concepts from tech, fashion, or cosmetics to differentiate your food product.

Prompts:

  • Summarize common complaints about spice mixes in Europe and suggest what gap I could fill with a new product.
  • Give me 10 product concepts combining sustainability, functional health benefits, and indulgent taste for a ready-to-drink beverage.
  • Which demographics show the most interest in artisanal spice blends in Switzerland?
  • What price range would consumers be willing to pay for an artisanal spice blend in Switzerland? Recommend a competitive pricing strategy for our product.

Use that information to design a more advanced prompt.

Prompt: “Act as a Culinary Innovation Director with expertise in ethnobotany and consumer food trends. Based on the Swiss preference for Alpine, natural, and sustainable ingredients (see persona doc attached), propose 5 artisanal spice blend recipes that (a) balance global novelty with local familiarity, (b) highlight functional benefits (digestion, energy, recovery), and (c) align with refillable, eco-packaging formats. For each concept, provide a flavor rationale, expected consumer perception, and potential sourcing challenges in the Swiss/EU market.”

Result: You don’t just get flavor lists — you get contextual recipes tied to functional health, sustainability, and Swiss cultural fit. Limitations: Recipes may not always be technically perfect (e.g., stability, shelf-life).

Opportunity: This gives your R&D team a creative head start, highlighting gaps you might otherwise miss.

Speeding Up Product Development

Again, start with simple prompts to brainstorm the right information for the main prompt:

Ingredient scouting: Ask GPT to compare ingredients, highlight suppliers, or summarize EFSA/USDA databases for nutritional values.

Recipe iteration: Generate multiple formulation options (e.g. sugar-free, allergen-free, low-carbon footprint).

Cost optimization: Compare ingredient substitutions that maintain taste but lower cost or improve shelf life. Process checklists: Get SOPs for production, HACCP steps, or QA documentation templates.

Prompt: “Act as a Food Technologist specializing in dry spice blends. Based on the attached product brief (‘Coffee Spice Rub’), generate 3 prototype formulations that maximize flavor intensity of spare ribs, using coffee as the dominant flavor while meeting: (a) 6-month ambient shelf life, (b) compliance with Swiss allergen regulations, and (c) cost of goods under CHF 2.50 per 50g pack. For each formulation, specify % ingredient breakdown, functional role of each component, and potential supplier options in the EU. Also propose at least one alternative low-carbon-footprint ingredient substitution per recipe.”

Result: Detailed prototype formulations that already consider technical + commercial feasibility. Limitations: Ingredient sourcing suggestions may need verification; nutritional claims must be legally validated.

Opportunity: This shortcut lets you test ideas faster in the lab and start supplier conversations sooner. Experiment with ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavor combinations and put them to an empirical tests. Make sure that your recipe is compliant with local industry regulations.

Get Your Product Compliant

Yes, it’s just a humble spice blend, but it still has to go through a rigorous compliance check to ensure the product is ready for consumption. To successfully make your food product compliant you’d generate information about all topics below and use this information as a means for discussion with a food regulatory compliance expert.

Label checklists: Draft ingredient lists and nutrition tables that meet EU/FDA standards.

Claim validation: Ask which health claims are legally allowed (e.g. EFSA-approved functional claims).

Country-specific compliance: Compare what wording is acceptable in Switzerland vs. EU vs. US.

Allergen handling: Generate risk-assessment frameworks and allergen declaration guidelines.

Research regulations: Get information on the specific regulations and standards that apply to your food product

Food Safety Standards: How can I ensure my food product is produced in compliance with food safety standards like HACCP or ISO 22000?

Ingredient Compliance: What are the key considerations to ensure that all ingredients used in my product comply with safety regulations?

Nutrition Labeling: What are the essential components of a nutrition label, and how can I create one that complies with regulations?

Allergen Labeling: How should I clearly label allergens in my food product to meet regulatory requirements?

Packaging and Labeling Compliance: What are the regulations regarding packaging and labeling size, readability, and content for my product?

Country-Specific Regulations: How can I ensure that my product complies with country-specific regulations if I plan to export it?

Shelf Life and Storage Conditions: What factors should I consider in determining the shelf life and providing storage instructions for my product?

Quality Assurance: What should be included in a quality assurance program to monitor and maintain compliance throughout the production process?

Record-Keeping: What types of records should I maintain to ensure compliance with food safety and labeling regulations? 

Results: The answers speed up the work towards a compliant product. It’s advisable to tackle these early on so that you don’t have to tweak your final recipe or packaging.

Limitations: Never fully rely on legal information from AI.

Opportunity: If you are a food/beverage industry newcomer, use the information as topics that you can discuss with an experienced compliance professional. If you are from the industry, you can critically assess the information and only use the relevant bits.

Get suppliers and manufacturers

Prompt: "Provide a list of suppliers/manufacturers/packaging companies for an artisanal spice blend in Switzerland, including links to their website."

Results: You will indeed get a list of companies to contact with a short description about each.

Limitations: Chat GPT has not the freshest sources (only until September 2021). It mainly shows big manufacturers that most likely won’t accept small volumes of a starting brand.

What can you do with it: You can always try to access the big players, especially regarding suppliers.

Prompt: Write an email to a manufacturer that has a high chance of reply. I would like to produce 1000 bags of 50g spice blends using organic ingredients.

Result: You will get a template email ready.

Limitations: There is no guarantee that this email will get replies. It is a must to tweak the email content, if you use it as it is you will achieve exactly the opposite - reach the spam folder.

What you can do with it: Use the structure and tweak it to the particular recipient as needed.

Validating Products with Cosumers

If you are getting ready for your focus groups to FINALLY learn about the acceptance of your food product, use GPT 5 to generate draft surveys, polls, or interview guides tailored to your target consumer (e.g. “flexitarians in Switzerland aged 25–40”).

Prompt: “Act as a Consumer Insights Specialist. Based on (1) a customer persona deck for Swiss upper-middle-class foodies (link), and (2) Amazon review transcripts of global spice brands (attached), simulate a focus group discussion with 8 persona-aligned participants. Capture their reactions to: (a) our proposed ‘Coffee Spice Rub’ positioning, (b) sustainable refillable aluminum packaging, and (c) a CHF 12.90 price point, Write a transcript of the discussion, including disagreements, and then summarize the top 5 objections and 5 purchase motivators that emerge. (d) Summarize common complaints about similar products.”

Result: A “mock focus group” that helps you anticipate consumer objections before real tests. Limitations: Simulated voices are not a substitute for real qualitative data.

Opportunity: Helps you refine survey questions and test messaging angles before investing in recruitment.

Optimising Go-to-Market Processes

Prompt: “Act as a Senior Go-to-Market Strategist. We are preparing to launch an artisanal spice blend brand in Switzerland targeting health-conscious flexitarians aged 28–45. Using the following documents: (1) draft pitch deck, (2) unit economics sheet, and (3) competitor case studies (links provided), identify disconnects between our current messaging and target consumer values. Then design a 6-month omni-channel launch roadmap that integrates: (a) direct-to-consumer online sales, (b) B2B partnerships with premium delis/restaurants, and (c) seasonal campaigns linked to Swiss cultural moments (e.g., ski season, alpine summer). Include budget ranges and KPIs for each channel.”

Result: You get a structured, strategic launch roadmap tied to audience behaviors and cultural context, not just generic channels.

Limitations: GPT cannot forecast actual sales figures; must be validated with pilot tests.

Opportunity: Use it as a first-draft blueprint for board/investor discussions, then refine with real numbers. Additionally, identify distributors, co-packers, or online DTC platforms and test pricing, distribution, and promotional strategies under different conditions.

Limitations of Using Chat GPT For Product Launch

As magical as it sounds you can get quite far with just Chat GPT, but don’t forget to process each and every word with extra cautiousness and/or food industry professionals.

In a now-infamous case, Chat GPT was tasked with the ambitious challenge of launching a profit-maximising business on a shoestring budget of just $100. The entrepreneur, Jackson Greathouse, acted as the human liaison, diligently executing any recommendations from Chat GPT. Despite their collective efforts, the endeavour fell short of expectations and ended in bankruptcy.

Here is a quick summary of limitations that you should be aware of:

Real-Time data limitation

It can't provide real-time data or access many external databases. The knowledge of it free version goes up to June 2024, however it can still provide valuable insights to speed up your launch. 

Math limitation

GPT-5 is now better at math. However it still often uses language and pattern recognition, in stead of mathematical calculations. 

Incorrect answers

It can make mistakes, including grammatical, mathematical, factual, and reasoning errors, especially in specialized topics like medicine or law. It may provide inaccurate information or fabricate plausible-sounding answers.

Biased answers

It can produce biased responses due to biases in training data. Biased inputs can lead to biased outputs, perpetuating cultural, racial, and gender biases. 

Human insight is lacking

It lacks human-like understanding, emotional intelligence, and the ability to recognize sarcasm, humor, or idioms. I provide responses based on patterns and may miss context.

It's eloquent!

It tends to provide lengthy and sometimes overly formal answers. While this can be helpful for complex topics, it may not be suitable for concise question AI

Using AI After Food Product Launch

Launching your product is just the beginning of using the benefits of AI. Here are more exciting applications that can boost your long-term growth:

  • Automated online order fulfillment
  • Supply chain optimisation
  • Shelf life predictions
  • Inventory management
  • Chatbot for customer service
  • Product shelf-life algorithms
  • Nutritional analysis

Would you like to get into more details in the above? Share your thoughts and questions on hello@agilery.ch