Making Food Supply Chains Smarter with AI

Philly Tech Connect by Philadelphia Tech Entrepreneurs

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Dave:
Hey everyone, Dave here with another episode of the Philly Tech Connect Podcast. Today I’m speaking with Avery Dante. He loves space, renewable energy, new materials, and he’s fascinated by how we design and build our cities.

He’s also leading a dev team building Food Forest AI, a tech company building tools that enable food and beverage teams to source ingredients, packaging, and services in seconds. His key differentiator is making complex supply chain relationships visible and accessible. Avery, how are you doing?

Avery:
I’m doing good. Thanks for your time, Dave.

Dave:
Thank you. This is cool. I haven’t had a lot of people in the food space, so I’m interested to learn a little more about your background that led to tackling this industry, and specifically what you’re working on. So give me a little about your background—because I’m hearing renewable energy, space, food—lots of good stuff.

Avery:
Yeah, so I originally started my journey with mechanical engineering at Temple years ago and slowly made my way into software engineering. I did a bootcamp before COVID—feels like a whole life ago, back in 2017, 2018.

Right when COVID started, I was working at a company downtown, and then I got let go—because, you know, all the things going on at the time. Some friends hit me up saying they wanted to build a marketing agency and needed a tech lead. So we started working with some companies and nonprofits, providing services. But that can get really time-consuming and energy-depleting, so we decided we wanted a product.

It just so happened someone we knew in the food manufacturing space told us there was a big hole to fill: connecting manufacturers with brands. We started building a search feature that was kind of like a directory at first, but then we found a bigger problem—infrastructure for the space. I can get into that a bit more.

Dave:
Yeah, let’s. When you talk about manufacturing in the food industry—are we talking about food production, packaging, or both? Are those done by separate people? I honestly don’t know much about it.

Avery:
That’s a really good question. Honestly, before we started this, I didn’t know anything either. I thought food was created at some magical Kellogg factory where they grew it, packaged it, and shipped it all in one place to the grocery store.

But after jumping into this and learning about the industry, we realized the supply chain is not linear—it’s a web. A dozen different companies might be involved. One handles packaging. Another sources ingredients. That ingredient might come from a farm in Ecuador, get shipped to a factory, then sent to another facility to make the recipe—maybe recipes for 10 different companies. Then it goes to packaging, then to a grocery store or evaluation center.

Dave:
So it’s really complex. When you say you uncovered a big problem, where in that supply chain did you see the biggest issue—or was it just everywhere?

Avery:
Great question. So, we noticed the problem through a friend who’s a co-packer. They make nut butters for companies and also sell their own product. The issue came when their sourcing provider dropped out. They needed someone new.

They were using this ancient directory that looked like a 2000s Myspace page—broken links, outdated companies. They were like, “Guys, you’re already making websites. Make this better.” So we started redesigning it with a better user experience.

Then we realized the real issue wasn’t just search—it was infrastructure. There’s no standard for how data is organized. Some people use Excel, some use a Rolodex. The base issue was: people couldn’t find what they needed. So we built an AI-based search feature that lets you type in natural language to find manufacturers.

Dave:
Very cool. Sounds like it used to be just yellow pages-style info online—barely digitized. So this started with nut butters, but now you’re aiming across all food categories?

Avery:
Exactly. Food is one of the most important industries—we need it to survive. And people need access to sourcing yesterday. Grocery stores need to be stocked, production can’t stop. So yeah, we’re going across the food industry with a focus on building scalable infrastructure.

Dave:
How are you sourcing the manufacturers? Are you scraping? Or is it more self-service where they fill out profiles?

Avery:
All of the above. First two years, we manually met with hundreds of manufacturers—calls, forms, onboarding. Then we started scraping to speed it up. Initially, we didn’t want to scrape—we wanted it all organic. But competitors scrape, and we need to scale.

Now we scrape, then clean and synthesize the data on the backend. We’ve got interns and hired people filling out contact forms, reviewing scraped data, validating companies. We also attend food expos—there are a lot! It was surprising to learn how big that scene is.

Dave:
Have you thought about your business model? Subscription, commission, featured listings?

Avery:
Yeah, good question. Industry standard is commission—consultants take a cut for brokering deals. We didn’t want to do that. At first we did everything free just to grow and learn.

Now we’re launching with a subscription model—monthly fee to access tools. Later we’ll focus more on data and insight. The real vision is building core infrastructure everyone in food and beverage can understand and use. But it starts with helping people connect.

Dave:
Nice. I really admire people building products in non-obvious industries. It’s not like productivity tools—this takes research and deep understanding. So how long did it take to feel confident enough to start?

Avery:
About two years. Hundreds of calls. I’ve got two co-founders more client-facing. We share what we learn and I poke holes from the tech side. Synthesizing all that info into product decisions takes time and effort. Being a relentless problem solver helped.

Also letting go of assumptions and just absorbing the industry’s knowledge was key.

Dave:
Wow. So I know you guys rebranded from PickYourPack to Food Forest AI. What led to the name change?

Avery:
Good question. PickYourPacker worked for people in the industry—terms like “co-packer” resonate. But it didn’t reflect our core mission: localizing food sourcing and reconnecting people with food.

We see a growing awareness about food quality and origin. But there’s still a gap. Food Forest AI represents building an interconnected network that brings us back to our roots—literally. And, of course, we use AI. So the name reflects both our mission and our tools.

Dave:
Totally. I’ve volunteered on a farm in Southeast Asia, and it’s eye-opening to see how hard people work just to produce basic food. It made me think, “This should cost way more than it does.” I had no idea where food really comes from before that.

So what’s next for you guys, and where can people find you?

Avery:
We’re on LinkedIn. My co-founders are very active. I’ve been more focused on the product, but I’ll be more active once we launch. The site is www.foodforest.ai. We’ve moved from PickYourPacker and are launching next month.

Next steps: launch, activate subscriptions, connect users, build a data network of key players, and scale. Eventually we want to enable others—investors, manufacturers, everyday people—to access that data.

Long-term, it’s about localizing food. Like you said, people work hard to grow it, and we often pay just a few dollars. What if your food came from a nearby farm in PA? What if you knew where it came from? That kind of connection is powerful. But for now, we’re starting with search and connecting manufacturers with brands.

Dave:
Super cool. It’s great learning what you’re working on. I’m excited for your launch and wish you the best.

Avery:
I appreciate you, Dave. Thank you.

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