How is artificial intelligence revolutionising the foodservice sector?

What is artificial intelligence in foodservice?

There's much talk about artificial intelligence, but it's difficult to really grasp how this technological innovation can help restaurant and bakery chains grow more rapidly. First and foremost, it's important to understand the different types of artificial intelligence that could be used in the restaurant industry:

Conversational and generative writing AI:

This technology relies on natural language processing, which enables machines to understand and generate human language. Recent advances suggest that AIs can now recognise meaning, emotions and intentions behind words, or even pass themselves off as humans. The latest update to ChatGPT offers us a voice assistant capable of recognising emotions. These advances are made possible thanks to the enormous amount of data used to train these models. For example, a chatbot can manage bookings and respond to customer questions in real-time, thus improving customer service. Restaurant owners can use this functionality to optimise their customer service and ensure better satisfaction.

Predictive AI:

This approach aims to anticipate future events or behaviours using algorithms. For example, it can predict a restaurant's revenue trends based on historical data, such as weather and special events. This helps improve profitability and reduce food waste. Restaurants and bakeries can thus better anticipate production and staffing needs, reducing time and ingredient losses. Furthermore, AI can estimate customer preferences and adapt the menu accordingly, offering a personalised culinary experience.

Generative image AI:

Thanks to Deep Learning, computers can now understand the content of images and videos precisely. This technology allows generating images and videos from text, which opens up numerous creative possibilities. For example, a restaurant can use this technology to create attractive visuals for its menu on its website or social media, thus increasing the visual appeal of its dishes. Establishments can thus improve their online marketing and attract new customers.

Let's now look at the different applications for the restaurant sector.

How do restaurants and bakeries use artificial intelligence?

Improving stock management through AI

AI is particularly useful for stock management. AI-based sales forecasts enable automated procurement, whilst real-time analysis of profitability ratios, such as material costs, helps optimise costs. By using AI-based control systems, restaurant, and bakery owners can track stock levels and place supplier orders more efficiently.

Predicting footfall

AI tools enable prediction of footfall in restaurants by analysing historical data and taking into account local events (festivals, holidays, roadworks…). Consequently, it's capable of planning production and even triggering promotional offers at the right moment. Thanks to predictive analysis, operators can adapt their service based on forecasts, thus ensuring better customer satisfaction and optimal staff management.

Automating customer relationship management

AI, through chatbots and virtual assistants, can automate responses to private messages on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Restaurants can thus respond more quickly to customer questions and efficiently manage their online presence. It also enables drafting social media posts more quickly. All this aims to improve customer satisfaction. AI's semantic analysis can thus monitor customer reviews and identify recurring problems. This allows restaurants to improve their service and respond proactively to customer concerns.

Fighting food waste through AI

AI plays a crucial role in reducing food waste by enabling ordering of necessary quantities, improving recipe tracking, and forecasting production. These advances help restaurants reduce losses of fresh and finished products. AI can also analyse order data to estimate future demand and adjust production accordingly.

For example, if AI predicts high demand for pizzas at the weekend, the restaurant can order the necessary ingredients in advance.

With Inpulse, you have real-time access to your profitability ratios (such as material costs). This enables cost optimisation and food waste reduction. We've been supporting restaurants, bakeries and themed corners that wish to reduce their food losses and optimise their material costs since 2018. You can see our client testimonials here, as well as the concrete results that AI has enabled them to achieve.

Menu personalisation through AI

Finally, restaurants can offer personalised menus based on customer preferences. For example, if a customer is vegetarian, AI can recommend meat-free dishes. AI can also take into account food allergies and dietary restrictions, thus guaranteeing a culinary experience adapted to each customer.

What are the advantages of artificial intelligence in the foodservice sector?

As we've just seen, AI is a powerful tool capable of generating personalised recommendations, analysing data with incredible precision and automating numerous tedious tasks. Here are the main advantages you can derive from it:

• Elimination of errors: Unlike humans, AIs are precise and improve with experience. Automating certain administrative tasks, such as staff scheduling, reduces human errors and frees up time to focus on customer experience.
• Time savings: Automation reduces repetitive tasks, thus enabling employees to focus on high-value-added tasks.
• Cost reduction: Brands become more efficient through automation, reducing their operational costs.
• Hiring less expert profiles: AI recommendations and analyses enable employees to quickly acquire new skills.
• Accelerated development: Analysis of reliable data helps identify malfunctions and make informed decisions for growth.
• Strengthening food quality and safety: Detection of anomalies, such as inappropriate storage temperature, helps guarantee food safety and avoid health risks for customers.

AI is transforming the restaurant sector by automating tasks, improving customer experience, optimising stock management and reducing food waste. The advantages are numerous, and the possibilities seem endless for brands that wish to adopt this technology to remain competitive in the constantly evolving restaurant market.

The innovations brought by artificial intelligence open new perspectives for the restaurant sector. By integrating AI solutions, restaurant owners can not only improve their service and reduce their costs, but also anticipate market trends and offer an exceptional culinary experience to their customers. From stock management to footfall prediction, through automating customer interactions, AI proves to be a valuable asset for restaurant professionals.

If you wish to discover how Inpulse harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to support restaurant and bakery operators in optimising operations, cutting costs, and enhancing customer experiences, we invite you to book a demo with one of our experts today. Let us show you the concrete ways our AI-driven solutions can transform your business and help you stay ahead in the rapidly evolving foodservice industry.