Tweezers AI detects even our taste buds

Tweezers AI detects even our taste buds

American beer company 'Sugar Creek' has always had trouble bottling the beer it produces. When beer is bottled, there is an imbalance in pressure and temperature, so the bottle is not filled to a certain amount. Some bottles had absurdly low amounts of beer. Bad beer was discarded, and wasted beer alone amounted to 30,000 dollars (36 million won) a month.

Sugar Crick, who was in trouble, entrusted IBM's artificial intelligence 'Watson' to solve the problem. Watson collected various data through precision flow meters and IoT sensors, and discovered the phenomenon and cause of excessive foaming in the process of bottling beer. Sugar Creek improved this process and reduced the number of bad beer bottles. A Sugar Creek official said, "Thanks to artificial intelligence, we can save more than $10,000 a month," and "beer tastes better."

Food Tech, which combines technology with food, is spreading. There are more and more cases of creating new foods by finding the taste that consumers prefer through artificial intelligence, or closely managing the food distribution process with block chains. Forbes predicted that the global food tech market will reach 300 trillion won by 2022.

Create new products with Artificial intelligence and do marketing

One of the most common technologies applied to food tech is artificial intelligence. Lotte Confectionery's 'Kokcalcon Buffalo Wing Flavor', released in June last year, is a work of artificial intelligence. Lotte Confectionery participated in IBM's artificial intelligence 'Watson' from the product planning stage. Watson analyzed SNS (social networking service) posts, sales data, and consumer types to find the taste and texture preferred by people who drink alcohol alone. Based on this, Lotte Confectionery launched the Kokcal Corn Buffalo Wing Flavor, which properly combines spicy, sweet, and salty flavors. This snack has sold over 1 million bags within two months of its release.

Cutting-edge technology is also used in food marketing. 'Pada Coconut', a snack that appeared on the market in 1979, has been a popular snack for people in their 40s and 50s. However, recently, 'Angpa (sediment + pada coconut)', which is eaten like a sandwich with red bean paste and butter between pada coconuts, has been popular among female consumers in their 20s and 30s. IBM Watson has detected that Enpa is popular with young consumers on social media with artificial intelligence. Based on this, Lotte Confectionery drew the 'Angpa Recipe' on the box of Pada Coconut products, and sales increased by more than 30%.

Genetic engineering is also changing the future of food. In the United States, meat substitutes that perfectly reproduce the taste of meat are gaining popularity. Founded in California in 2009, Beyond Meat developed a plant-based alternative and currently sells sausages and other products in supermarkets. It is made of 'fake meat' with plant materials such as chickpeas, soybeans, and mushrooms. Beyond Meat was listed on the Nasdaq in May and is growing explosively. Sales in the second quarter of this year recorded $67.39 million (about 80 billion won), exceeding the market estimate ($52.5 million). This is a four-fold increase compared to the second quarter of last year.

Articial intelligence Food tech market expected to reach 300 trillion won in 2022

Food tech is useful for developing products that precisely target a place with a certain demand based on big data. It is also possible to analyze various problems that humans have not captured. Automatic payment artificial intelligence technology related to food delivery and platform technology that manages food inventory are also types of food tech. Forbes predicted that the global food tech market will grow at a rapid rate of 6% annually for the next three to four years.

jobs are also increasing. The Korea Food Tech Association expects to create about 300,000 new jobs in the fields of delivery, smart farm, data, and food safety over the next 10 years. Companies are making bold investments to apply these food techs to their businesses. McDonald's bought Israeli machine learning startup Dynamic Yield for $300 million (360 billion won) in March. It is the largest acquisition by McDonald's in the past 20 years. McDonald's will utilize the startup's data analysis  artificial intelligencetechnology to recommend customized menus to drive-thru customers. For customers who don't have much time, they recommend a hamburger that doesn't have a long waiting time. An IT (information technology) industry official said, "Foodtech derives results that both suppliers and consumers are satisfied with through scientific statistics and analysis.