AI is ripping up the food and beverage rules as we know them

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already playing a major role in food and beverage production. It’s telling manufacturers what their customers want, speeding up new product development, and is even working out the most efficient and attractive packaging designs.

But this is just the beginning. AI’s role in food and beverage is merely in its infancy.

“The future of the food industry is poised for a remarkable transformation, driven by relentless advancement of artificial intelligence and robots,” says Chirag Bharadwaj, senior software engineer for app development company, Appinventiv.

And with food and beverage brands, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mars, PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz, focusing significant investment to leverage the power and possibility of AI, the outlook is exciting.

What’s next for AI in food and beverage?

AI’s use in food and drink is limitless and full of benefits, the first of which is quality control.

Quality control

Consumers buy products based on an expectation of a certain quality, texture and taste, and it’s important that these expectations are met.

“AI systems can monitor and adjust recipes in real time, ensuring every dish meets the same high standards,” says Appinventiv’s Bharadwaj.

However, this particular benefit is still relatively new, meaning many brands are continuing to prioritise human judgement, when it comes to quality control.

“Human intervention is a significant factor in food safety,” says a spokesperson for industry recruitment firm, Food Recruit. Though supporters of AI argue there are flaws to this approach.

“Investing in contemporary inspection systems, smart web-enabled monitoring devices, accurate food labelling, and the personal hygiene of food handlers will ensure food and beverage outputs are safe and contaminant-free,” says George Mathew, associate vice president of sourcing and procurement intelligence at SmartEdge.

“X-ray technology can pick out hard contaminants, not visible to the human eye, thus preventing quality failures and improving traceability. Smart sensors detect bacterial growth in perishable chilled foods and enable real-time temperature monitoring of refrigerated F&B inventory.”

Improved efficiency

AI is streamlining and speeding up innovation in food and beverage. And this is happening at all stages of production, from farm to fork.

From speeding up new product development to helping to shape marketing campaigns for those new products, the potential for AI in innovation is only just getting started.

What’s more, AI has the potential to improve production efficiency as machines, unlike humans, do not require breaks.

“AI in the food industry can work continuously without breaks, significantly improving productivity,” says Appinventiv’s Bharadwaj.

This also removes the risk of mistakes made through operator fatigue.

Another major benefit, which looks set to grow, as more companies adopt AI, is the reduction of labour costs.

“Investing in AI and robotics isn’t just a technological upgrade,” says Appinventiv’s Bharadwaj. “It’s a strategic move towards substantial long-term savings. These advanced technologies dramatically cut labour costs by automating repetitive tasks, while precision and efficiency reduce error rates.”

And with that improved efficiency, is the ability to scale-up or scale-down on production on a monthly, weekly, daily or even hourly basis.

“AI technology in the food industry can be easily programmed to handle various tasks,” says Appinventiv’s Bharadwaj. “As demand changes, the same robotic systems can scale operations up or down without the need for extensive reconfiguration.”

Improved consumer experience

Understanding consumer wants, needs and trends is one of the biggest and most important challenges faced by the food and beverage industry, and AI is starting to make this easier.

Where previously, food and beverage brands relied upon feedback panels, market analysis, and real-world testing to understand what consumers want, now the focus is shifting to AI.

“AI is a great tool for analysing past customer behaviour and preferences and making predictions about what they’ll need in the future,” says Kirsten Lamb, content strategist for consumer insights platform, Zappi. “Predictive analytics brings together a range of techniques. It uses machine learning, statistical models and data mining to analyse historical data and predict future trends. This data may include on-site user behaviour, buying behaviours, preferences and demographic data.”

The future of AI in food and beverage

Despite still being in the early stages of development, AI is revolutionising the food and beverage industry, and that change is set to continue.

“If AI-driven systems were widely adopted, the food industry could see enhanced efficiency, quality, and sustainability across the board,” says Amanda Johnston, co-director of the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. “AI technologies have the potential to optimise production processes, improve quality control, reduce waste and energy consumption, enhance food safety measures, and streamline supply chain management.”

In other words, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!