Recently we got an email from our daughter’s history teacher. He indicated a number of students had submitted their essay 5 minutes prior to the deadline and the submissions were remarkably similar. His opinion was these students had left the task to the 11th hour and typed the assignment into Chat GPT. He said he would follow up with the students directly but his position going forward was this was not an acceptable way to write essays.

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications comb millions of websites for content. They use this learning to enable them to complete tasks, as outlined by the user. The response time is very fast and the applications have the ability to create responses in a format suitable for different purposes.

We are all learning about the capabilities of AI and the applications it might have in the food and beverage industry. AI can be perceived as incredibly powerful and game changing or frightening and taking over what humans do. Regardless of your perspective, it is here and we are surrounded by examples of it.

In food and beverage there will be many opportunities to use this technology.

This is not new

It is true we have been living with this in many forms, but the recent explosion of attention on applications such as Chat GPT has made it much more prevalent.

Large companies have been using forms of artificial intelligence to reduce costs, service customers and impact manufacturing. I am not a huge fan of the chat box that now appears on many websites, but some people find them helpful. It is much less expensive than paying a real person to answer the phone or respond in real time to online queries.

Many food processing plants would employ artificial intelligence to improve the capabilities of equipment. Every time the machine will grade an apple or an onion it learns more and becomes more accurate.

Applications in food and beverage

We expect food and beverage brands to communicate regularly with consumers over social media and other mediums. The AI applications can write copy for this communication and format it to fit the platform you are using. For example, they can write it in a style that is most effective for Facebook or Linked in.

Some producers and processors maintain a list to communicate directly with consumers. This can be very effective to share recipes and other information about your products. The AI applications can create the content for direct communication to your community of consumers. AI can even write your holiday message to your online community if you choose to send one.

Providing recipes and ideas for consumers to use food and beverage products is an important component of many marketing strategies. AI can be a source for recipes and other ideas to use your products. Sharing this type of information with your target market positions the supplier as a valuable resource and should drive trial and use.

Almost every food and beverage business has a website. Many brand owners will tell you the website needs work or a refresh. AI does have the ability to generate content for your website. Providing information to a target market that compliments a product does increase the value of a website.

AI is also becoming an option to the traditional Google search. Food businesses can do research with AI to understand the potential for specific market segments. The difference between AI and Google is that AI will do the work for you, as opposed to going through multiple websites to get the information you need.

With free versions of applications such as Chat GPT, you are not aware of the sources they are using to compile the information. We should all be weary of trusting any information gleaned from the Internet. You should always check recipes to ensure they are good and information to ensure it is accurate. AI can reduce the time required and give you a good starting point. You still need to own everything you share with consumers and customers.

If you have any questions about artificial intelligence in food and beverage, you can always send me an email peter@skufood.com or call me at (902) 489-2900.

Peter

P.S. Our daughter wasn't one of the students using Chat GPT for her essay.

Coca Cola using artificial intelligence in product development

Soft drink giant Coca Cola is using AI to develop new flavours. Believe it or not, they have introduced a new flavour called Y3000 that was developed by AI, not human product developers. The company added their choice for flavours of the future and let the application determine what would be added to the original formulation for Coca Cola.

This product is available in markets across Canada and the U.S. If you try it let us know what you think!

Two things I get asked about more than anything else are:

How do I get retailers to price my product properly?

&

How do I put together an effective product pitch?

If you are asking these questions we have some answers for you!

We are excited to partner with Learnsphere and Sue Oguchi to deliver a session called “Let’s talk Numbers” and one called “Perfect your pitch”.

Register now for these FREE upcoming workshops:

Let’s Talk Numbers

• • September 21st , 9am-4pm - MONCTON, Crowne Plaza Moncton Downtown
  • September 25th , 9am-4pm - CHARLOTTETOWN, The Holman Grand Hotel
  • September 27TH , 9am-4pm - HALIFAX, Hampton Inn by Hilton Halifax Downtown

Perfect your Pitch

• • September 22nd , 9am-4pm - MONCTON, Crowne Plaza Moncton Downtown
  • September 26th , 9am-4pm - CHARLOTTETOWN, The Holman Grand Hotel
  • September 28TH , 9am-4pm - HALIFAX, Hampton Inn by Hilton Halifax Downtown

Where is Peter Speaking?

We have been working hard to put together a new video to promote the work we do speaking at conferences and events. Hope you enjoy the video!