How AI is accelerating front-end innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a valuable tool for food and beverage makers looking to bolster front-end innovation. Manufacturers, restaurants, ingredient suppliers, flavor houses and more are leveraging insights from machine learning to get closer to consumer trends and market more nuanced propositions. New food and flavor concepts traditionally have been ascribed to culinary experts, chefs and product developers, said Ron Harnik, vice president of marketing at Tastewise, an Israel-based AI food and beverage platform. Translating an idea into a finished product can take months or even years. "The processes that are set up to take products to market simply aren't built to be quick and accurate enough to reflect how fast consumers are changing," Mr. Harnik said.