The Spoon Experience

What The Spoon Experience does

The Spoon Experience ("Spoon" / "SPOON") is a privately held, direct-to-consumer culinary tour operator headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Old San Juan). The company designs and delivers guided walking food and cocktail tours, cooking classes, and private/corporate experiences built around small-group formats and curated visits to independently owned local restaurants, cafes, and bars. Its commercial portfolio centers on three trademarked public tour products — the Sunset Walk & Taste Food Tour™ ($149/person, 3-3.25 hours), the Old San Juan Walk & Taste Food Tour™ ($139/person, 3-3.25 hours), and the Sip & Savor Cocktail Tour™ (~2.5 hours, minimum 4 people) — alongside bespoke private and corporate group offerings and digital gift cards. The platform is non-technological: tour discovery, content, and brand are delivered through a WordPress-based website with an active travel/food blog, while reservation management, availability, and payments are handled by an embedded third-party booking engine (FareHarbor); social presence is concentrated on Instagram, Facebook, and X, with review accumulation on TripAdvisor and Yelp.

Spoon's go-to-market is purely direct-to-consumer, relying on earned media (features in WSJ, CNN, The Guardian, Lonely Planet, Fodors, Food & Wine, Coastal Living), organic search/content marketing, social, and aggregator listings for top-of-funnel demand, with the website and phone reservations closing bookings. Pricing is unit-based, pay-as-you-go per ticket with no subscription or recurring contracts; gift cards function as prepaid experience vouchers rather than a separate pricing model. Customer segments are primarily individual tourists and visitors to Puerto Rico seeking authentic local culinary experiences, supplemented by corporate groups using the tours for team-building. The company was co-founded in 2008 by Gustavo Antonetti (a Puerto Rico native) and Paulina Salach Antonetti, remains founder-owned with no disclosed external investment, and operates with approximately 20 employees — a structure consistent with a lifestyle-scale experiential operator rather than a venture-backed growth business.

Name

The Spoon Experience

Legal name

Spoon

Website

https://thespoonexperience.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Spoon Experience is a privately held, direct-to-consumer food and culinary tour operator in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, offering guided walking food tours, cocktail tours, private/corporate experiences, and cooking classes priced per ticket to visiting tourists and corporate groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Tours and Culinary Experiences

NAICS

Caterers (722320), Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Culinary Walking & Market Tours (THAJAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cocktail Experiences (Mixology Classes, Cocktail Tours) (THAJAGAG), Culinary Skills Workshops (Baking, Regional Cooking, Food Prep Skills) (THAJAKAE), Private Culinary Experiences (Chef’s Table, Home Dining, Market-to-Meal) (THAJALAH), Food, Market & Culinary Culture Tours (THAJAAAG)

Keywords

• Culinary walking tours
• Food tourism experiences
• Guided tasting tours
• Corporate team building
• Old San Juan tours

Headquarters

HQ city

San Juan

HQ country

Puerto Rico

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Food & Walking Tours: Revenue generated from guided walking food tours in Old San Juan, including the Sunset Walk & Taste Tour and Old San Juan Walk & Taste Tour. Tours are sold as individual tickets with fixed per-person pricing.
2. Cocktail Tours: The Sip & Savor Cocktail Tour generates revenue through guided evening bar crawls featuring local cocktails, with minimum group size requirements.
3. Private & Corporate Experiences: Private tours and corporate team-building experiences are offered, likely at premium pricing for exclusive groups.
4. Gift Cards: Digital gift cards sold through their website for tours, functioning as prepaid experience vouchers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Spoon Experience runs guided small-group walking food and cocktail tours through Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, taking guests to multiple local restaurants, bars, and food stops for tastings. It also offers private tours, corporate group experiences, cooking classes, and gift cards as ancillary products around the same culinary-tourism theme.

Product overview

The Spoon Experience is a food and culinary tour company operating in Puerto Rico, offering a portfolio of guided walking and driving food tour experiences in Old San Juan and surrounding areas. Its core offerings consist of scheduled food tours (Sunset Walk & Taste Food Tour™, Old San Juan Walk & Taste Food Tour™), a cocktail-focused Sip & Savor Cocktail Tour™, private and corporate group experiences, and cooking classes. Tours are designed for the general public (couples, families, solo travelers, business and corporate groups) and feature local independently owned food and beverage establishments using locally sourced ingredients. Bookings are managed through the FareHarbor platform, and the company publishes a blog covering Puerto Rican cuisine, culture, events, and travel guidance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sip & Savor Cocktail Tour™: Evening walking cocktail tour of Old San Juan featuring craft cocktails at local bars
• Sunset Walk & Taste Food Tour™
• Old San Juan Walk & Taste Food Tour™

Products and services

• Sunset Walk & Taste Food Tour™ A guided evening food walking tour in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico that takes guests to multiple local restaurants and food stops for tastings as the city transitions into evening. Designed for individual travelers, couples, and small groups seeking a curated sunset food experience.
• Old San Juan Walk & Taste Food Tour™ A guided daytime food walking tour through Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, visiting multiple local eateries and food stops for tastings while exploring the historic district. Targeted at leisure travelers and small groups who want a curated local food experience.
• Sip & Savor Cocktail Tour™ A guided cocktail-focused walking tour in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico that takes guests to multiple bars and mixology stops for tastings. Targeted at adult leisure travelers and couples interested in Puerto Rican cocktail culture.
• Private Tours A customizable private guided food tour in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, tailored to the specific preferences and schedule of the booking party. Designed for families, friends, and small private groups who want a personalized food experience.
• Corporate Tours & Team Buildings A guided group food tour experience in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico designed for corporate clients, employee groups, and team-building events. Marketed to companies and event organizers seeking a shared, activity-based experience for their teams.
• Cooking Classes Hands-on cooking classes tied to The Spoon Experience's culinary-tourism offering, designed for travelers and food enthusiasts who want to learn Puerto Rican cuisine preparation as part of their visit.
• Gift Cards Gift cards redeemable for The Spoon Experience's culinary tours, available for purchase and used as a gift product for friends, family, or colleagues to redeem against tour bookings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% positive customer rating from thousands of online reviews
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FareHarborcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFareHarbor provides the embedded booking calendar and reservation management system for Spoon's website, enabling online tour bookings and gift card sales.
• Local Restaurants & Bars in Old San JuancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpoon partners with small, independently owned local restaurants, cafes, and bars throughout Old San Juan for tour stops. These partnerships are fundamental to their value proposition of supporting local businesses and providing authentic culinary experiences.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Peers

• GetYourGuide:

Broad incumbents

• EatWith: Online marketplace for host-led culinary experiences including cooking classes, home dinners, and food tours. Comparable in offering small-group food experiences to travelers, but as a broad platform aggregating many independent hosts rather than operating its own branded tours.
• Viator: TripAdvisor-owned marketplace aggregating tours, activities, and experiences globally, including food tours in San Juan. Comparable as a distribution channel and competitive force, though not a direct branded operator; Spoon is also listed as a supplier on Viator/FareHarbor.
• Withlocals: Online marketplace connecting travelers with local guides for food tours, cultural experiences, and private tours across 100+ destinations. Comparable on the guided-local-experience model and tourism customer base, but operates as a multi-category platform rather than a single-brand tour operator.

Direct peers

• Eating Europe: Multi-city culinary walking-tour operator in Europe and the US offering small-group food tours with local guide expertise. Closely comparable on experience format, target customer, and per-ticket pricing structure.
• Secret Food Tours: Globally operating food tour company running guided walking tastings in 70+ cities with a similar pricing model (~$100+ per person) and brand emphasis on 'hidden local' food experiences. Direct competitor for the same tourist persona across international destinations.
• Culinary Backstreets: Food-focused experiential travel company offering guided neighborhood food tours and storytelling in cities like Istanbul, Athens, and Lisbon. Directly comparable on the narrative-driven, off-the-beaten-path culinary tour concept that Spoon also emphasizes.
• Devour Tours: Multi-city food tour operator offering small-group walking culinary experiences in cities including Barcelona, Rome, Lisbon, and San Francisco. Closest direct competitor in the small-group culinary walking-tour category, with the same customer profile (tourists seeking authentic local food experiences) and similar business model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thespoonx
• Facebookfacebook.com/thespoonexperience
• Instagraminstagram.com/thespoonexperience
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-spoon-experience

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Spoon Experience