After banking, retail and manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence has now also trickled down to the food and beverage industry.
Earlier this week Indian cloud kitchen startup, InnerChef, announced its plans to expand its operations using data analytics and artificial intelligence in 2018.
The startup that was founded in 2015, plans to increase its number of kitchens and add to its fresh food brands.
Rajesh Sawhney, founder and CEO of InnerChef, told a news website that the company will take forward its ‘multi-city and multi-brand’ strategy and seek to employ artificial intelligence and data analytics to improve customer experience. Currently, the startup has 13 kitchens across four cities (Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR and Mumbai) and plans to add Pune and Ahmedabad to the list. It expects to have 40 kitchens by the end of 2018.
“We have a data scientist on board and are working with deep-learning tech startup Silversparro to understand customer data better,” added Sawhney on using AI to improve customer experience.
Sawhney also expressed his disdain over the amount of data that is being shared (or not being shared) with cloud kitchen services by food delivery platforms. “There is a need for these platforms to share more data with cloud kitchen companies to help them understand their customers,” he opined.
InnerChef faces competition from other known contenders such as FreshMenu, Swiggy and Zomato, among others, in the area of cloud kitchen and food delivery services. Some of these name have already started exploring the idea of using technologies like machine learning and AI in their businesses.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Swiggy has been focusing on improving its capabilities in multiple areas including machine learning and data sciences using the $80 million it raised. A sizable portion of it came from the media and internet conglomerate Naspers Ltd.
Freshmenu too has been known for experimenting with AI in the recent past with its Facebook Messenger bot.
With examples of Indian companies from other sectors, most notably Flipkart, highlighting the importance of inclusion of AI in their businesses, companies from the food industry may also push the country’s drive towards AI adoption.
