Artificial intelligence invades the food industry

The development of technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data
has enabled the global food industry to increasingly delve into applications that
allow it to harness consumer and market information for the development of
innovative products based on the findings detected, as well as the identification of
trends and potential value-added segments.
Like many industries, the food industry will be changed by artificial intelligence.
According to Business Wire, the rise in the use of AI is such that the global AI
market in food and beverage is estimated to increase at a compound annual
growth rate of 42.18% until 2021. From marketing automation, production
optimisation and energy saving to predictive maintenance.
Technology has enabled the accelerated development of new value-added
propositions in the food industry, as well as generating new methodologies or
platforms to address innovation.
This digital market is the field of action of technologies such as Big Data and
artificial intelligence, which use these resources to identify new trends and potential
areas for the development of new products by manufacturers, whose objective is
focused on providing more personalised, timely and higher impact added value
according to the current needs of the markets.
Artificial intelligence, an ally of the food sector
Artificial intelligence is of great use to society and is revolutionising the way food is
manufactured, transported and consumed. This technology offers important
benefits to the sector at a strategic and operational level through more agile
decision-making, flexible and efficient production, better adaptation to the
environment and more collaborative value chains.
Companies in the food sector will find in artificial intelligence an excellent ally that
will allow them to offer shopping experiences that exceed their consumers'
expectations, while at the same time collecting data for analysis and the
subsequent implementation of strategies that effectively adapt to the environment.
The Bogota Chamber of Commerce points to the following ways in which AI will
transform the food and beverage industry:
 Predicting the sales cycle and performing inventory management. AI-based
algorithms learn from various factors, such as product promotions, social
media, consumer demand, market trends and even the weather, and using
this historical data can predict the sales cycle of each product over a given
period of time. Also, with the results provided, it can identify the main
customers by the frequency of their purchases and also the specific demand
for each product, information that helps to make more accurate forecasts
 with which companies can efficiently manage their inventories and with it
improve the supply chain.
 Know your customers. Artificial intelligence can track customers, taking into
account their tastes and preferences. One of the mechanisms used is the
study of emotions associated with products according to interactions on
social networks and other media. AI uses this customer information to
categorise customers into positive, negative or neutral responses and
subsequently generate more effective marketing campaigns and design
products that respond to consumer needs.
 Quality control. Grading agricultural products according to quality standards
is one of the most time-consuming processes for any company. With
artificial intelligence, sorting can be made easier by automating this process
through the use of an optical sorting technique based on machine learning
sensors. As a result, companies spend fewer hours sorting and reduce
waste. This technique has been used in products such as potatoes where
sorting is done by size and in tomatoes where sorting by colour reduces
rejections by retailers.
Food created with AI
 McCormick entered into a major partnership with IBM to use artificial
intelligence to support the development of delicious and innovative new
flavours. The food company used artificial intelligence in the development of
three new seasoning blends that will soon be on shelves: Tuscan Chicken,
Bourbon Pork Tenderloin and New Orleans Sausage.
 NotCo revolutionises the market in a sustainable way with the Giuseppe
programme, created from an artificial intelligence algorithm that looks for
patterns that occur in traditional food and plant data. These patterns allow
the programme to detect which plants should be combined to generate the
desired taste and texture, as is the case with Not Mayo.
 Journey Foods is an artificial intelligence-driven platform that supports and
supports intelligent research and development for the data-driven, efficient
production of plant-derived foods. The team develops and tracks a prototype
line of edible training data in the form of fruit snacks.
 Cerealto Sirio Foods creates cereal-based food, the company developed a
snack suitable for vegetarians and coeliacs, produced with artificial
intelligence. This innovation focuses on developing and improving products
that are increasingly healthier and meet the demands of consumers
concerned with healthy living.