{"id":44195,"date":"2019-08-09T10:05:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T02:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daxueconsulting.com\/?p=44195"},"modified":"2023-11-10T17:30:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T09:30:59","slug":"ai-food-and-beverage-industry-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daxueconsulting.com\/ai-food-and-beverage-industry-china\/","title":{"rendered":"AI in the Food and Beverage industry in China: the future of dining starts today | Daxue Consulting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Advances in technology and artificial intelligence have made many things possible in China, especially on-demand food ordering. The use of AI in the food and beverage industry in China<\/a> allows players to save time in the production phase in order to focus on more creative solutions and research. Now robots can be found in restaurants factories using AI in China<\/a>, with the aim to make the daily life of Chinese consumers easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download our AI in China 2020 White Paper<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

AI in the Chinese catering industry<\/strong>: restaurants are the\nnext target of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the China Industry Information Network<\/a> and China Daily<\/a>, China’s catering industry<\/a> reached a revenue of 4.27 trillion yuan ($628 billion) in 2018, a new record.  In this dynamic sector, the use of artificial intelligence is becoming more and more widespread. The Chinese e-commerce giants have embarked on the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robots in restaurants in China<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most visible application of AI in food and beverage is the use of robots in restaurants in China<\/a>. Earlier this year, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced plans to open 1,000 restaurants by 2020<\/a> where food will be prepared and served by robots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese robot c<\/strong>hefs<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The use of robots in restaurants in China<\/a> raises several questions. Does food prepared\nby robots taste as good as food prepared by human\nchefs?\nWhat about the job of cook, will this lead to mass\nlayoffs in the restaurant industry? These are questions that several\nrestaurants and cafes have tried to address after installing\nrobots in their kitchens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leader in the industry is Xcaf\u00e9<\/a>, a restaurant\nopened by JD.com in Tianjin at the end of 2018. This 400 square meter<\/a> restaurant can\nwelcome up to 100 people ready to enjoy the dishes prepared by the robot chefs. The process is simple: one person supervises approximately 5 robots who are in charge of all the\npreparation steps. Receiving orders, choosing products, assembling, cooking and plating up, everything is done by artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Source: Jd.com\/Xcafe \u2013 Smart restaurants in China]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the example of Xcaf\u00e9 shows us that robots are not yet independent enough to manage restaurants alone. On the other hand, they can also still represent a big advantage; smart restaurants in China<\/a> are becoming a real tourist attraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having cooks or robot bartenders is still something\nnew around the world and a lot of chains\nare promoting it to attract customers who are keen on high\ntech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Shanghai, the Ratio recently opened its doors with an attractive concept: the bartender is a state-of-the-art robot that modeled after the arm and hand of a real bartender. Customers order on a Wechat mini-program<\/a> and can see the robot prepare their orders in front of them. Of course, as far as human interaction is concerned, human managers are still there to answer customers’ questions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Source: Ratio Caf\u00e9 \u2013 AI in the food and beverage industry in China]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chinese robot waiters<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The kitchen is not the only place you can find robots in\nrestaurants in China. They are\nalso in the dining room, interacting directly with customers to take orders and\nserve meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haidilao<\/a>, one of the largest hotpot chains in\nChina (the only Chinese food company with a revenue of over 10 billion<\/a>) opened the world\u2019s first artificial\nintelligence technology restaurant in Beijing in 2018. A fully mechanized\nservice with intelligent robots as waiters and a panoramic screen to order\neverything to enjoy your private custom-made hotpot experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cOur next goal is to be the most intelligent restaurant in Beijing, we are already conducting technical discussions. I believe that in 10 or 20 years, there will be no more people in hotpot restaurants, only two engineers who can take charge of everything\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Zhang Yong (CEO of Haidilao)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe dining room, humanoid robots navigate the tables to serve customers their orders,\nwhich were taken on ipads. However,\nthe restaurant is so big that there are still human waiters to take care of the\n93 tables. In this case, it appears robots are present in restaurants as a novel\nattraction and not to replace servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Source: SCMP \u2013 Robots in restaurants in China]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alibaba has also hopped\non board with AI in the Food and Beverage industry in\nChina with Robot.He<\/a>.\nFollowing its New Retail project<\/a>, the\nrestaurant, located in the Shanghai suburb of Nanxiang is part of a Hema’s\nstore. In alignment with Hema\u2019s Retailtainment\nstrategy, waiters are small\nrobots that bring you dishes prepared by cooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Robots
[Source: AFP \u2013 Robot.he smart restaurant in China]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leverage big data\nto understand customer expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

AI in the Chinese catering industry also makes it possible to predict\ncustomers’ expectations and tastes in order to offer them an ultra-personalized experience. This is what the Chinese pizzeria chain La Cesar<\/em><\/a> has set\nup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTACT US NOW TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT BUSINESS IN CHINA<\/a> <\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By\nanalyzing the data collected on Baidu, marketers can see what the current food\ntrends are. The analysis of social networks or other applications such as Dazhong Dianping<\/a>\nvia web robots can also be very relevant. The idea is to analyze trends to\ncreate appropriate recipes and menus. So the restaurant is constantly changing\nits menu. This\nreminds us of the business model of major international clothing chains such as\nZara<\/a>,\nwhich relies on the continuous renewal of its collections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the intelligent software combines searches,\ncomments, and photos to create a list of the most frequently used keywords to\nproduce a monthly report that serves as a basis for managers to create new recipes. This is how the cranberry smoothie became a success after a 2017 analysis showing the trend of\nsour flavors and cranberries during the summer. Another example is the durian\npizza<\/a>, which is the brand’s best-seller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nChina, KFC<\/a>\nalso uses data to predict customer choices. Thanks to intelligent software that\nassembles the customers’ faces and their previous choices, KFC is able to offer\na choice adapted to each customer. The\nfacial recognition technology was developed\nin\npartnership with Baidu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Source: The Guardian \u2013 AI in China\u2019s F&B]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smart restaurants in China<\/strong>: a way to ensure safety and hygiene<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beyond\npurely marketing applications, AI in China\u2019s F&B has also been used to\nensure kitchen hygiene. It has become a very sensitive\nsubject in China since the 2008’s melamine-tainted infant formula\nscandal<\/a>. The relatively high frequency\nof such incidents takes a great toll on\nconsumer trust.\nArtificial intelligence can be a solution. A camera-based system is\ncurrently being piloted in the Zhejiang city of Shaoxing to recognize the bad sanitation habits of cooks. A camera system\ninstalled in kitchens is able to recognize 18 different types<\/a> of health risks such as smoking, using\nyour phone, not washing your hands or\ntouching your hair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\nalert is then sent to managers via a\nmobile app. The system also recognizes good sanitary habits such as\ndisinfecting surfaces, using gloves, checking the temperature of refrigerators. This system based on\nmotion and facial recognition can encourage employees to maintain good habits that would be\nfinancially rewarded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report<\/a>, since January\n2019, approximately 1,700 cameras have been installed in more than 800\nrestaurants in Minhang district, Shanghai. The food safety project is led by the Market Supervision and Management\nBureau of Minhang, which will also receive alerts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can see several advantages to the use of AI in the Chinese catering industry: <\/p>\n\n\n\n