How to Use AI in Food Business in 5 Steps

Historically, companies that have failed to make the technological advancements of their day are no longer around to rent you the odd movie or sell you a disposable camera. Unfortunately, turning the cold shoulder on progress in the food industry will likely end in the same diminishing returns that ran companies like Blockbuster and Kodak out of business. That is unless you take steps to innovate, adapt and pivot to new market trends. Today, that looks like inviting artificial intelligence into the kitchen.

AI significantly reduces operating costs, improves customer experience, and streamlines kitchen operations to improve plating times and increase revenue. But unless you’re a major food chain, you probably can’t afford to deploy robotic servers or other fancy innovations straight out of a 1960s sci-fi novel, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more affordable solutions you can implement to stay competitive. In this guide, we’ll answer your question on how to use AI in food business to capitalize on its benefits and monetize your investment.

Assess Your Business Needs

The first thing you’ll want to do is identify any pain points in your food business. What areas can be automated? Are guests calling and asking the same repetitive questions about reservations or catering? Or maybe you’re losing business because you can’t seat guests fast enough. In all likelihood, there’s probably an AI tool waiting to ease the pressure off your employees.

Look at this list foodservice operations where AI can help automate:

• Delivery and takeout – You can use AI to aid food delivery, such as tracking orders from shop to home and optimizing delivery routes.


• Customer Service – Developments in AI software now mean they can answer customer questions, take orders and manage reservations.


• Inventory management – Automated inventory tracking systems monitor stock levels and prevent waste and shortages.


• Sales and marketing – AI can sort through vast amounts of consumer data and purchasing patterns to make informed marketing suggestions.


• Waste management – AI technology can analyze patterns in food usage and suggest waste reduction strategies.


• Food safety and quality control – Integrated sensors can monitor and test environmental conditions and alert appropriate personnel if temperatures fall outside safe setpoints.


• Staff scheduling – With new advancements in software, AI can use predictive analysis to anticipate rushes and lulls in service and schedule accordingly.


• Food preparation and cooking – Smart appliances and robots can automate cooking procedures, reducing human error while improving workflow efficiency.


• Ordering – Artificial intelligence can make food recommendations and automate the ordering process through voice detection and transcription.

Set Clear Goals & Timelines

Using AI in a food business can be expensive, depending on the brand, type of technology and scale you choose to implement. You’ll want to answer a couple of questions about your short and long-term goals before landing on a decision:

• What immediate problems can AI solve?


• What’s your budget?


• What’s the projected ROI?


• How will you measure its success?


• What training and support will staff need?


• What is a realistic timeline for implementing AI changes?

Choose the Right AI Technology for Your Food Business

When choosing the right AI solution for your food business, the best thing you can do is research. Cross-compare companies and technologies, read reviews and customer testimonials, look for user-friendliness features and pay attention to how easily they can be integrated into your existing solutions and workflows.

Train Your Staff

You’ll have to set aside some time to train your staff on how to use these new AI systems. Most AI technology companies will help you install the products and perform demos to teach you how to use their equipment or software.

Along with training your employees, reassure them that artificial intelligence is a labor aid, not a replacement. As the foodservice sector evolves, you might experience employee resistance and customer backlash. The major fear is that robots in the food industry will displace workers and take over their jobs.

As you can see from the sections above, this is hardly the reality. As of right now, artificial intelligence is futuristic and valuable, but it’s not yet advanced enough to stand on its own two legs without a high level of human intervention.

Run a Pilot Test

The last step is rollout and execution. Anytime you incorporate new technologies into your workflow, it’s always a good idea to do so slowly. This avoids any hiccups that could slow down food lines and increase wait times for your customers.

For example, the McDonald’s drive-thru fiasco left a customer with 260 chicken McNuggets after the company installed an AI-powered ordering system.

While it’s better to let the big chain restaurants be the AI guinea pigs for server robots, drive-thru ordering and other new developments, that doesn’t mean other technologies like chatbots, inventory management systems and employee scheduling software aren’t affordable and easily incorporated into small mom-and-pop foods service businesses.

In the meantime, gather feedback from your employees and make adjustments as needed. When you’ve ironed out the details, you’ll be ready to take the training wheels off and watch as AI takes your food business into the future.