2025 Grocery Industry Icons & Innovators

Alex Weissman is the co-founder and CEO of Palate. He began his career at McKinsey, where he advised global food and beverage brands on growth strategy, innovation, and go-to-market execution. Through that work, Alex saw firsthand how difficult it is for teams to get timely, relevant feedback that truly informs product decisions.  
 
Despite the high stakes of launching new food products, many teams still rely on outdated research methods—white rooms, two-way mirrors, focus groups, online surveys—that fail to reflect how people genuinely shop or experience food. These limitations often lead to costly missteps and missed opportunities.  
 
Alex founded Palate to bring real-world testing into the product development process—earlier, faster, and more affordably. By gathering feedback from consumers and chefs in grocery stores, restaurants, and home or foodservice kitchens, brands can de-risk launches, improve product-market fit, and make smarter decisions on formulation, packaging, placement, and positioning.  

Bootstrapped from inception, Palate has grown to serve over 50 leading food innovators and retailers. The company organized the world’s largest taste test of plant-based meat, the Taste of the Industry with NECTAR, and built a real-time feedback dashboard that helps teams integrate shopper and chef insights into go-to-market strategies.