Datassential, Inc.

Datassential is a global food and beverage intelligence platform headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with a European headquarters in Clichy, France. Founded in 2001, the company's core mission is to empower the food and beverage industry to make smarter decisions by providing data, analytics, and trend forecasts.

The company offers a suite of market-leading solutions, including AI-powered innovation tools, predictive analytics, and proprietary market intelligence. Key products include Datassential One, an integrated platform for menu, consumer, and sales intelligence, as well as specialized tools like MenuTrends, Food Studio, FireFly, Keynote Reports, and AI-powered Menu Tags. Datassential also provides social listening capabilities to track emerging trends. Its services cater to food and beverage operators, manufacturers, and retailers, with a client roster that includes major brands such as Burger King, DoorDash, General Mills, Land O' Lakes, Pepsi, Starbucks, and Target.

Datassential is privately held and received strategic investments from New Mountain Capital and Endicott Capital in September 2024. Recent developments include the launch of AI chat within Datassential One in April 2026, and expanded AI capabilities, including a semantic agent for consumer intelligence and a Model Context Protocol (MCP), in February 2026. In January 2026, the company appointed Benn Salter as Chief Technology Officer and Jake Widmer as Chief Innovation Architect to further accelerate its AI-driven product innovation. Jim Emling serves as the CEO, leading a team that positions Datassential as a trusted partner for over 90% of the top food and beverage companies globally.