logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
11m 6s

Science of Success: What It Takes to Mak...

The Wall Street Journal
About this episode

What makes for a luxury strawberry? Is it the taste? Texture? Color? Around five years ago, berry company Driscoll’s released a new, premium line of berries with a higher price tag. Some consumers are shelling out almost 70% more to get their hands on this fancy fruit. But what are the qualities of a premium berry? On this Science of Success, we delve into the food science behind breeding and selling Driscoll’s Sweetest Batch, from creating more objective benchmarks for the highly subjective experience of taste to how the company works with supertasters and sensory analysts to create the best possible berry.


What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: FOEPodcast@wsj.com 


Sign up for the WSJ's free The Future of Everything newsletter.


Further reading:

Why America’s Berries Have Never Tasted So Good 

How Designer Fruit Is Taking Over the Grocery Store 

Trying to Breed Better Fruit 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Yesterday
The Google Exec Reinventing Search in the AI Era
Every day, billions of searches flow through Google, making it not just the world’s most popular search engine, but one of history’s most valuable products. Yet for the first time in nearly 30 years, the company’s dominance is under threat. Generative artificial intelligence tool ... Show More
33m 56s
Oct 3
Condoleezza Rice on Beating China in the Tech Race: 'Run Hard and Run Fast'
Condoleezza Rice’s experience navigating geopolitical tensions and uncertainty gives her a background few people have. The former secretary of state currently leads the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is a founding partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, a stra ... Show More
35m 5s
Sep 26
The Google-Backed Startup Taking on Elon Musk in Humanoid Robotics
Who will take care of you in old age? Jeff Cardenas, the CEO and co-founder of Apptronik, says the answer is robots. The startup founder set out to build a smart, dexterous robot after watching his grandfathers grow old and dependent in their later years. Beyond healthcare, Carde ... Show More
31m 46s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Focus – How We Taste
How do we taste? What evolutionary benefit is there to tasting bitter and sour? And why should you think about wearing noise-cancelling headphones on planes if you want to enjoy your food?      In this Focus episode of How We’re Wired, join producer Dr Eva Higginbotham as she unc ... Show More
26m 58s
Mar 2024
Eat This, Not That: The Surprising Science of Personalized Nutrition (encore)
This episode, we've got the exclusive on the preliminary results of the world's largest personalized nutrition experiment. Genetic epidemiologist Tim Spector launched the study, called PREDICT, to answer a simple but important question: do we each respond to different foods diffe ... Show More
57m 30s
Jun 2025
Legendary Consumer VC Predicts The Future Of AI Products
Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, has backed some of the most iconic consumer brands of the past two decades — from Warby Parker to Chime to Dollar Shave Club. In this conversation with Garry, she shares how great products (not marketing tricks) still win, why AI is ... Show More
35m 46s
Oct 2024
Can you taste a place?
Is it possible to taste a place? A listener wonders whether the French concept of ‘terroir’ can apply to food and, if so, what the science behind it is. Ruth Alexander goes in search of the answer, exploring how growing conditions and practices can develop flavours unique to a lo ... Show More
28m 55s
Jun 2025
Naming expert shares the process behind creating billion-dollar brand names like Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, Sonos, Blackberry, and Impossible Burger | David Placek (Lexicon Branding)
David Placek is the founder of Lexicon Branding, a company that focuses exclusively on the development of brand names for competitive advantage. Lexicon is behind iconic names such as Sonos, Microsoft’s Azure, Windsurf, Vercel, Impossible Foods, BlackBerry, Intel’s Pentium, Apple ... Show More
1h 22m
Mar 2025
Dr. Sarah Berry: Exposing the Biggest Nutrition Myths You Still Believe (E338)
Dr. Sarah Berry is a leading expert in nutrition science, passionate about making healthy eating both accessible and enjoyable. In this episode, Dr. Berry dives into why food should be a source of joy, not stress.  She explains how nutrition science is always evolving and why it’ ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 27
Mastering the Art of Speaking on the Spot & The Surprising Story of Breakfast Cereal - SYSK Choice
If you walked into your backyard and scooped up just a pinch of dirt, you’d be holding an entire underground universe in your fingers — one teeming with life and mysteries you’ve probably never imagined. I’ll reveal what’s really hidden in that soil. Source: David W. Wolfe, autho ... Show More
48m 48s
Jul 28
Why We Have Tip-of-the-Tongue Moments & How to Make Better Conversation
If you enjoy eating nuts – good for you! Nuts are healthy. But you might be surprised to hear just how healthy they are - and you don’t have to eat very many to get the benefits. This episode begins with a look at a fascinating study on nuts that has been going on for decades. ht ... Show More
49m 53s
Sep 18
The Promise and Peril of Disruptive Technology & How Being in Nature Changes You
Who hasn’t craved something sweet and delicious? You try to resist, but your brain keeps insisting. Surprisingly, there’s a simple trick that can make that craving disappear almost instantly. Listen as I reveal the science-backed way to quiet your sweet tooth. https://www.huffpos ... Show More
50m 1s