There is no lack of inventive tastes for the popular Oreo cookie, ranging from the fantastical Space Dunk to dirt cake and Coca-Cola. To push the limits of snack innovation, Mondel?z International, the company that owns Oreo and a number of well-known snack brands like Cadbury, Ritz Crackers, and Chips Ahoy, is now implementing artificial intelligence (AI).
The food scientists at Mondel?z are using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to create flavor concepts that are suited to particular taste, fragrance, and appearance profiles. AI assesses aspects like as environmental effect, nutritional value, and production costs in addition to flavor formulation. Compared to conventional trial-and-error procedures, this sophisticated methodology has sped up the process of launching new products by cutting the development period by two to ten weeks.
Human taste testers still play a vital role in ensuring quality a relief given AI’s mixed success in recipe creation. Instead, AI serves as a “catalyst” for human creativity, sparking ideas that may not arise naturally, according to Farooq Ali, product director at Thoughtworks, which collaborated with Mondel?z on this initiative.
Since its initial exploration of AI in 2019, Mondel?z has utilized this technology in over 70 projects. It has aided in developing gluten-free Oreos and refining existing recipes. The tool allows developers to set key parameters such as flavor attributes, cost targets, and nutritional goals before generating recipes. Developers then create samples, provide feedback, and let the AI refine suggestions in iterative cycles.
AI’s role at Mondel?z isn’t limited to flavor innovation. The company recently launched an AI-driven marketing platform to create personalized content, aiming to stay ahead of evolving consumer preferences.
Despite a 16% drop in stock value this year, Mondel?z reported strong Q3 2024 financial results, with revenue up 5.4% to $9.2 billion and a 21% rise in operating profits. As AI continues to refine the art of snack creation and marketing, the future of snacking looks tastier and more efficient than ever.
