Food Companies Say AI Plays Only Limited Role in Products

Food companies like Unilever and McCormick have long used artificial intelligence in product development.

But according to a report Saturday (Feb. 14) by CNBC, these companies say that AI plays only a limited part in their efforts, even as a new crop of startups tries to work its way into the industry.

“These tools help inspire our flavor scientists’ creativity,” said Anju Rao, McCormick’s chief science officer, told CNBC, stressing that AI is not meant to replace human expertise.

“Our greatest asset will always be our people who bring global perspectives, flavor expertise and human creativity to the table,” she said.

Startups, the report added, are using AI to forecast sensory outcomes with larger datasets to model how people might react to new food products before physical testing.

It’s not only consumer packaged food companies using AI. As covered here last week, Yum Brands, owner of chains such as KFC and Taco Bell, is seeing both its restaurant operators and diners benefit from the Byte by Yum AI-driven technology platform.

CNBC pointed to estimates from industry analysts showing that the global market for AI in food and beverage will jump to $50 billion by 2030, fueled by increased investment in data-driven product development, automation and personalization.

Food scientists who have tested these platforms, the CNBC report added, say the technology is still being developed.

Brian Chau, a food scientist and founder of food systems consulting group Chau Time, told CNBC that many startups are still collecting data, trying to compile enough real-life information to make their predictions meaningful.

“I think all the AI companies coming out are, to some extent, overstating what they can do — that’s true of most startups,” said Chau. “They need to attract investors, they need to build datasets, and they need real industry partners before any of this really works at scale.”

In other AI news, PYMNTS wrote last week about the technology’s use in pharmaceutical research. That report points to things like Nvidia and Eli Lilly’s partnership on a lab focused on drug discovery, as well as Google’s research using AI models in cancer therapy discovery.

“Taken together, these developments point to a broader reality: AI is no longer a niche computational aid in early R&D,” the report said. “It is becoming an end-to-end operational ecosystem that supports patient selection, safety monitoring, documentation generation, trial logistics and regulatory engagement.”

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