Artificial ingredient: Cooking up new snacks with aid of AI
Feb 4, 2025
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Discover how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the snack food industry. Mondelez is using AI to streamline recipe creation, blending automation with human taste testing. The technology enhances efficiency and responds to consumer trends, making innovation quicker. Learn about the balance between AI-driven processes and the essential human touch. This transformative approach minimizes repetitive tasks, allowing food scientists to focus on creativity and flavor development.
AI accelerates snack innovation by enabling food scientists to quickly customize recipes, enhancing efficiency in the development process.
While AI aids in product development, human oversight is crucial to align new recipes with brand standards and consumer expectations.
Deep dives
AI-Driven Innovation in Food Science
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the food innovation process by expediting recipe development. Food scientists can now utilize AI tools to select desired flavor characteristics, significantly reducing the time taken to create new snacks. The AI allows scientists to customize their recipes by ticking options for traits such as texture and flavor intensity, which makes the process approximately four to five times faster than traditional methods. However, human supervision remains vital in ensuring that the AI-generated recipes align with established product standards and brand identity.
Challenges and Consumer Impact of AI Integration
While AI has proven beneficial in product development, it also presents challenges regarding data management and implementation. Mondelez, the parent company of certain snack brands, needs to supply ample historical data for the AI tool to function effectively; insufficient data led to unrealistic recipe suggestions in early versions. Additionally, the integration of AI has allowed the company to respond swiftly to shifting consumer preferences, particularly during tight economic times when customers may opt for smaller, budget-friendly snack options. Though the average consumer may be unaware of AI's role in these products, it enhances the company's ability to adapt to market demands.
One of the more hopeful scenarios for how artificial intelligence could affect jobs is that it would take over more of the boring grunt work and free up humans for loftier pursuits. Mondelez, the company behind many of America’s favorite snacks, like Oreo cookies, Sour Patch Kids candy and Ritz crackers, is trying to do just that — using AI to speed up innovation for food scientists and give their taste buds a break. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Wall Street Journal reporter Isabelle Bousquette about how AI is changing the snack game.
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