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How Businesses Can Use AI for Cooking to Boost Sales

Blog image AI for cooking
January 28, 20256 min
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Kelia Losa Reinoso
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AI in the food industry is revolutionizing how food is created, prepared, and consumed.

With tools like Tastewise’s recipe generator leading the way, AI for cooking enables businesses to stay ahead of trends, create innovative recipes, and better serve their customers. Beyond automation, AI empowers the food and beverage industry to offer more personalized, sustainable, and efficient solutions.

By 2030, AI is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy​. Within this landscape, AI for cooking is proving to be a game-changer, enhancing profitability for food brands, restaurants, and manufacturers by optimizing resources and increasing customer satisfaction.

Why do we need AI for cooking?

Blog image AI for cooking

At its core, AI for cooking transforms big data into actionable insights, enabling brands to cater to evolving consumer preferences.

Tastewise’s recipe AI generator analyzes millions of data points to uncover what consumers want—whether it’s plant-based options, low-carb meals, or new global flavors. These insights allow businesses to develop recipes that resonate with their audience, improving customer loyalty and boosting repeat sales.

For example, a CPG brand launching a plant-based snack can use AI to generate recipes that align with emerging health trends and pair well with their product. The result? A cohesive strategy that drives both product adoption and brand awareness.

How can we make it happen?

AI for cooking offers businesses an innovative way to connect with their customers while driving sales. By leveraging AI-powered recipe generation, brands can develop products that resonate with evolving consumer preferences, such as plant-based meals or global flavors, creating deeper engagement with their audiences.

For restaurants, AI can help design personalized menus tailored to dietary needs, increasing customer satisfaction and encouraging repeat visits. Meanwhile, food AI can enhance marketing efforts by offering data-driven insights into trending ingredients and meal pairings, making campaigns more targeted and impactful. These tools not only foster customer loyalty but also open new revenue streams by meeting consumer demand for innovative and personalized food solutions.

Personalization is one of the strongest applications of AI for cooking. Advanced algorithms can tailor meal suggestions based on dietary restrictions, ingredient availability, and even regional preferences. Apps powered by AI are already helping consumers create customized meal plans, often saving both time and money.

Restaurants, too, are leveraging AI in foodservice to create personalized dining experiences. AI tools can help design menus that address diverse dietary needs, ensuring customers feel valued. This personalization fosters loyalty and encourages repeat visits, which is invaluable for businesses aiming to stand out in a competitive market.

Need personalization for your business? Tastewise can help you connect with your consumers.

Practical Applications of Using AI for Cooking

AI for cooking is reshaping the potential of smart kitchens by offering businesses tools that improve efficiency while directly boosting sales. AI-powered appliances, like those from June and Whirlpool, use sensors and machine learning to perfect cooking processes, delivering consistent results and reducing waste. For commercial kitchens, this translates to more precise operations and a higher capacity to serve customers efficiently, leading to increased revenue.

For manufacturers, integrating AI into kitchen appliances creates opportunities for collaboration with food brands. Smart appliances pre-configured to optimize specific CPG products not only enhance the consumer experience but also drive product adoption and sales by making it easier for consumers to achieve great results at home.

What about in foodservice? AI is transforming the restaurant industry by optimizing operations, enhancing customer experiences, and helping businesses boost efficiency. From personalized dining options to smarter staffing, here are nine ways AI in restaurants is making an impact:

AI phone answering

Restaurants are using AI to answer calls, provide accurate responses to customer queries, and even upsell items or promote events. Tools like AI Answering help ensure no calls are missed and have been shown to increase online sales by up to 132%.

Voice ordering

Guests can now place orders using voice assistants like Alexa or Google Home. This technology is also being implemented in self-service kiosks and drive-thrus, making ordering faster and more convenient.

Self-serve options

From kiosks to tableside tablets, self-service technology gives guests control over ordering, customizing meals, and paying. These options enhance convenience and streamline the dining experience.

Personalized kiosks

AI-powered kiosks, like those tested by KFC, use facial recognition or customer data to tailor recommendations based on past orders, elevating personalization and customer satisfaction.

Integrated inventory and purchasing

AI tracks inventory trends and makes real-time purchasing recommendations, helping restaurants maintain stock levels, avoid running out of popular dishes, and reduce food waste.

Smarter staffing and scheduling

AI analyzes sales and traffic patterns to create optimized employee schedules, ensuring adequate staffing during peak times while avoiding overstaffing during slower shifts.

Data-based predictions

Predictive technologies, like those used by McDonald’s, analyze historical data to anticipate orders, reduce wait times, and streamline inventory management.

Automated marketing and remarketing

II tools automate marketing campaigns, sending personalized emails, targeted ads, and social media posts at the right time to maximize guest engagement and drive repeat visits.

AI content creation

AI simplifies content creation by generating marketing emails, posts, and texts based on restaurant data. This allows businesses to stay connected with guests without dedicating excessive time to content creation.

AI for cooking: looking ahead

AI is no longer just futuristic—it’s actively shaping how restaurants operate, engage with customers, and improve efficiency. By adopting these technologies, restaurants can create more personalized experiences while boosting their bottom line.

Additionally, tackling food waste with AI offers a dual advantage: reducing costs and increasing profits. Businesses in the food AI space are using AI-driven insights to better predict demand, optimize inventory, and minimize overproduction.

Tools like Winnow have helped reduce kitchen waste by up to 50%, while Tastewise enables brands to pinpoint recipes and ingredients that resonate with consumers. These innovations ensure businesses maximize resources, improve sustainability, and bring pro

Ready to see what AI can do for your business? Schedule a demo today and discover how Tastewise can transform your approach to innovation.

The future of AI for cooking promises to push boundaries even further. Imagine augmented reality (AR) integrated with AI to help chefs plate dishes with precision, optimizing both aesthetics and consumer appeal. AI-powered chatbots could act as virtual assistants in restaurants, recommending dishes or wine pairings tailored to individual diners’ tastes.

Blockchain technology combined with AI in food manufacturing could also bring unprecedented transparency to the supply chain, allowing consumers to trace the journey of their food from farm to table. These advancements not only build trust but also open up new opportunities for differentiation in the market.

What can food intelligence do for you?