Artificial Intelligence can’t cook you a meal, yet, but it sure is stirring the pot. From wine labels that talk to shrink wrap that detects the presence of salmonella, here’s how AI is rejigging everything we thought we knew about food and packaging and level playing fields.
Product development is changing
🤖 AI is helping marketing and product development teams come up with new concepts based on deep consumer and industry insights, all woven together into ‘superproducts’. For example, Kraft Heinz uses AI-powered insights to predict upcoming food and beverage trends and play into them.
🤖 AI can take product ideas and create 3D models that synthesise brand guidelines and consumer trends and competition, removing the guesswork.
🤖 Product testing just got ultra sophisticated because AI can predict how a new product will perform in various climates, environments, over time and even if it’ll stand out (or not) on shelves.
🤖 Some brands are asking AI to craft their recipes for maximum appeal to human senses based on science.
Packaging is changing
🧃 “Smart packaging” promises to increase freshness and reduce food waste with real-time monitoring of quality through the packaging itself. For example, the “Lab-in-a-Package” system can detect salmonella in chicken through a special tray and sensor membrane.
🧃 Masses of food are discarded due to incorrect labelling or inaccurate expiry dates, whereas smart packaging can check for spoilage indicators like pH, bacteria and biogenic amines for greater accuracy and, theoretically, less waste.
🧃 Interactive packaging is here, especially in saturated categories where gimmicks give you the edge. For example, 19 Crimes wine made augmented-reality labels famous with their ‘talking convicts’ (and more recently, icons like Snoop Dogg) who come to life when you scan your phone.
Why consumers and ethicists are pushing back
🤔 Research from 2024 revealed that the vast majority of consumers wanted AI involvement in food and drink to be declared on the label, even as some brands embraced the new era – like St Austell Brewery who proudly claim to be “Hand Brewed by Robots”.
🤔 Nascent smart packaging tech is still cost prohibitive for many brands, creating an even more treacherous playing field for the little guys.
🤔 AI uses a lot of energy and natural resources, and we’re trying to preserve those things… right?
🤔 Human rights conundrums are coming to light as companies race to source rare minerals, creating yet more mines and potentially exploitative labour.
🤔 There is a marked lack of AI regulation, despite mammoth ethical implications… to say nothing of human creativity.
🦖What do you think? Are you an AI adherent or avoidant? What’s your take on this new era of ‘perfect’ products and consumer experiences?