IBM Watson is probably most famous for winning Jeopardy! back in 2011, but now he’s putting on his chef’s hat and getting into the granola business.
Bear Naked has launched Custom Made Granola, powered by the question-answering computer system.
Consumers start at BearNakedCustom.com, where they can select from more than 50 unique ingredients for their “beary” own blend.
Then they tap into IBM's Chef Watson to customize their granola combinations based on their personal flavor preferences. Each time a consumer selects a base granola, Chef Watson sifts through thousands of possible flavor pairings to suggest as a match for their taste.
After they’ve created their blend, they give it a name and choose a unique bear illustration to rep the creation. Bear Naked then delivers it straight to their den.
”From the ingredients you choose to the custom name for your blend, there is a story in every canister and we can't wait to see what people come up with,” says Dan Barba, marketing lead at Bear Naked.
To build out the Bear Naked Custom Made Granola experience, Bear Naked's team searched high and low for ingredients that are clean, craveable and delicious — and they found so much more than just blueberries and almonds.
BearNakedCustom.com features a massive selection of ingredients that range from jalapeños and olives to pomegranate and hemp seeds. Each ingredient is also 100 percent non-GMO Project Verified and thoughtfully sourced.
The Red Sea Salt, for instance, is a traditional Hawaiian-style sea salt that is enriched with purified red alaea clay straight from Kauai. And the freeze-dried cinnamon apples come from Smeltzer Orchard Co., a family-owned farm in Frankfort, Michigan that has been producing fruit for six generations.
To support the discovery of unexpected ingredient combinations that match your tastes, Bear Naked tapped into IBM Chef Watson and is stoked to be the first consumer brand to offer Chef Watson-inspired foods.
"We are pleased to collaborate with a leading consumer brand to leverage Chef Watson's cognitive cooking capabilities in new, creative ways," says Lauren Berkowitz, managing director of Watson Life, IBM Watson. "This project is a great example of how Watson's underlying technology can lead to discoveries in any industry. We're excited to see what consumers create with Bear Naked and the help of Chef Watson."
In addition to creating custom granola with Chef Watson, consumers can also choose from three chef-inspired blends featuring delicious chunks of nature and bold flavors, including:
- Chocolate Strawberry Jalapeño: A sweet and spicy combination
- Olive You, Kale: A Mediterranean-inspired blend
- Michigan Farms: A blend celebrating the great fruit farms of Michigan
Bear Naked offers a full line of granolas and snack bars made with big, delicious chunks of nature to deliver epic taste. Launched in 2002, the company is passionate about creating great-tasting foods everyone can enjoy, and is best known for its signature, soft-baked granola made from real whole grains and minimally processed ingredients.
