AI in Food Trends: From Hazelnuts to Pistachios—What’s In, What’s Out, and How Tech is Shaping the Future of Food

 

As far as nuts go, hazelnut is out and pistachio is in (23 months running according to the social media data)! 

Do you know your Swalty Versus your Swicy?

Food trends predicted by ai. Are you a believer?

Here’s my summary on a brilliant episode of The Food Programme and how it’s helping our food businesses, CAN AI be a team member? 

Chefs: AI offers tools to enhance creativity, technique, and efficiency.

Technique Enhancement: AI provides cooking tips and tricks that go beyond traditional cookbooks. For example, it can offer specific instructions on how to ensure a crumble topping is extra crispy.

Ingredient-Based Recipes: AI can generate recipes based on available ingredients (great for food waste management). This reduces food waste and sparks creativity by suggesting dishes chefs might not have conceived otherwise.

Ideation Partner: AI assists in brainstorming, suggesting unique flavour combinations and culinary concepts. Though some combinations may be unusual (like spicy plum cake with jalapeno- who would have thought!), they can push chefs beyond their usual boundaries – YAY. However, human oversight is crucial to avoid absurd or unpalatable outcomes.

Retailers: AI streamlines operations, predicts trends, and aids in supply chain management

Accelerated Trend Identification: AI speeds up the process of spotting emerging food trends, enabling faster product development and placement on shelves. This is particularly valuable in a fast-changing market where capturing trends quickly is essential. And guess what?? We have the perfect workshop for that! The Sustainability Sprint!! Can we reduce product development in the development kitchen from 2 years, to just 12 weeks??  

Reduced Product Failures: By predicting consumer preferences, AI helps retailers minimise the risk of launching unsuccessful products. Given that most new food products fail within a year, this predictive capability is a powerful tool. ‘Hot’ honey pizza anyone? Can we avoid the rubbish reviews ahead of time because ai can help predict what’s in? And what is ABOUT to be a trend.

Global Data Tracking: AI monitors menus and social media discussions worldwide to pinpoint trending ingredients and flavour pairings. For example, AI identified pistachio as a trending flavour, leading Waitrose to create pistachio Tiramisu and Panna Cotta. You can discover what the new ‘salted caramel’ is!

Supply Chain Efficiency: AI helps ensure ingredients get to the right factory at the right time, reducing waste and optimising logistics.

Restaurants: AI enhances customer experiences, optimises efficiency, and helps adapt to consumer trends.

Improved Customer Service: Robots powered by AI can assist with tasks like delivering plates, creating a novel and engaging dining atmosphere. “Bella” the robot at Cosmo in Glasgow brings plates to tables and entertains customers. This leaves time for human interaction and efficiency, humans can focus on other tasks. It can also help a manager stuck due to labour shortages.

People power Savings: AI-driven automation can reduce labour costs by handling repetitive tasks. Bella can carry multiple plates at once, saving staff from making numerous trips.

Adapting to Consumer Trends: AI helps restaurants understand and cater to the growing demand for healthier and more sustainable food options. By analysing data on consumer behaviours, restaurants can create menus that align with these trends.

What’s OUT and what’s IN according to the data?

 ❌Hazelnut – ✅ Pistachio

 ❌Swalty – ✅ Swicy (sweet and spicy= hot honey or sweet and salty = salt caramel)

 ❌Flavoured gin –  ✅ Cream liqueurs

 ❌Honey –  ✅ Peanut butter

 ❌Instant rice – ✅ Instant noodles

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