Artificial intelligence in the catering and food service industry

We are in the midst of a revolution: artificial intelligence (AI) is opening up new business strategies and concepts for companies. This also applies to companies that offer catering services, be it restaurants, catering companies or retailers that are setting up a food service division.

AI-based applications analyse the current state of a business, simplify many processes and make workflows significantly more efficient. With intuitive AI tools, users can carry out analyses, filter out findings from dashboards and develop suggestions for measures even without complex specialist knowledge. One of these business areas that can benefit from the use of AI is menu engineering.

AI can analyse menus, menus, ingredients and orders and thus gain patterns or insights that remain hidden to the human eye. This data can provide information on how food service providers can optimise their offerings and support menu engineering.

Very profitable are answers to questions such as:

• Which dishes are particularly popular?
• Which dishes or ingredients are not so popular with consumers?
• Which dishes have the highest profit margin?
• Are there seasonal trends?
• Are the costs of the dishes calculated correctly?
• How does the layout or design of the menu influence sales?
• Can additional dishes or drinks be sold through recommendations?

DISH, a subsidiary of METRO, is a company that specialises in supporting catering businesses with digitalisation. DISH offers services and tools that catering companies can use to analyse their customer service and processes and then make them more efficient and targeted. Data from the restaurant is analysed using AI, which leads to insightful findings on how the business can operate better. According to the company, over 1,000 such menu engineering sessions with subsequent consulting were carried out in 2022/23 alone. This is said to have generated additional turnover of up to 20,000 euros per year.

As has been the case in the retail sector for some years now, personalised recommendations are also making their way into the catering industry. AI can analyse the previous order data of returning guests in order to create customised suggestions for dishes or ingredients. Such personalised recommendations contribute to greater consumer satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, AI can help to recognise trends and patterns in orders, to which products and menus can be adapted. In this way, the integration of AI is becoming a decisive factor for competitiveness in the modern catering and food service industry.

Artificial intelligence provides significant support to the catering industry in personnel management and shift planning by automating and optimising processes. By analysing historical data and current trends, AI can create precise forecasts of guest volumes and workloads. This enables efficient shift planning, in which the number of employees is optimally adapted to demand.

In addition, AI facilitates the onboarding of new employees by creating tailored training programmes and induction plans. Overall, the integration of AI in HR management helps to reduce operating costs, improve service quality and increase employee satisfaction.

Thanks to the use of AI systems, catering businesses can also benefit in the area of inventory management. Based on sales data and consumption patterns, AI can create precise forecasts for product requirements. This minimises excess stock and reduces food waste. Automated ordering systems can trigger repeat orders in good time and ensure that sufficient ingredients are always available. AI also recognises which items are best stored at which temperature. Through this intelligent management of orders and stocks, AI increases operational efficiency and reduces costs while ensuring the quality and freshness of the food on offer.