Dive Brief:

• Smart food platform Whisk has launched a new, multi-platform app that allows shoppers to find and share recipes, plan meals, build shopping lists and order groceries, according to a company press release.
• In the U.S., Whisk is partnering with Walmart, Instacart and Ahold Delhaize, the company told Grocery Dive in an email. Amazon will be a global partner, and Whisk will also team up with retailers in Europe and Australia.
• Shoppers can use the Whisk app with voice assistants including Amazon’s Alexa and Google assistant.

Dive Insight:

Whisk’s new app differs from existing shoppable recipe programs in a few notable ways, Nick Holzherr, head of Whisk, told Grocery Dive in an interview. For one, Whisk doesn’t create recipe content; it allows users to pull from any recipe publisher or upload their own recipes into the platform. 

"We’re trying to fit in with your life rather than trying to make you change the publisher you’re using or the retailer you’re using," he said.

The app allows users to add ingredients to a shopping list or cart, which they can sort by aisle or recipe if they want to shop in-store or click to order the ingredients for delivery. The platform also adds nutritional data to each recipe a user adds. 

The most notable difference, Holzherr said, is that Whisk uses a sophisticated food genome to map food ingredients and offer food purchase options. The intelligent food engine makes it possible for the app to work across different devices and places and provides a simple, frictionless experience, Holzherr said. Users can share lists and update them in real time on multiple devices.

"The magic is in being able to map items to the intent the user has," Holzherr said. 

Many retailers have partnered up with shoppable recipe apps, and there isn’t any exclusivity involved in Whisk’s partnerships. Walmart, which is working with Whisk, also works with Buzzfeed’s Tasty and Myxx to offer shoppable recipes and click-to-cart shopping. Ahold Delhaize, also a Whisk partner, offers shoppable recipes through special Peapod partnerships like its recent collaboration with Mark Bittman. 

Whisk was founded in 2012 and acquired by Samsung in March. The company said it powers 500 million interactions a month worldwide.

Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified how Chicory operates. It is a technology firm that partners with recipe developers and food companies to create shoppable recipes.