Food and beverage companies using artificial intelligence for product development
Claims that food and beverage brands have used artificial intelligence to develop or produce their products are skyrocketing globally.
According to Innova Market Insights, products with an AI-related claim increased a staggering 720% in the 12 months ending June 2024 versus June 2023.
The eye-opening stat was shared by the market intelligence firm during its Top 10 Food & Beverage Trends 2025 Report webinar, It signals AI is no longer just a buzzword in the industry, but is being applied in practical ways to elevate the consumer experience, sooner than experts predicted.
“The big topic of the year is AI,” Lu Ann Williams, co-founder and global insights director of Innova Market Insights, declared during the webinar. “It surprised me that there are so many claims around AI. [The growth] is from a small base, but brands are starting to communicate around how they’re using AI to create products.”
Katlenburger Winery in Germany, for instance, launched NanoFizz, touting it as “Europe’s first AI ready-to-drink fruit wine mix.” AI was leveraged to help develop and refine the flavour profile.
The Top 10 Food & Beverage Trends 2025 Report identified additional ways AI is being harnessed by manufacturers as well as grocery retailers, ranging from sustainability (Marks & Spencer will soon begin selling parsnips with a significantly lower environmental impact from its first autonomous farm field trial) to food safety (researchers at Penn State, for instance, developed an “electronic tongue” that can detect fruit juice and milk spoilage.)
It’s been two years since the launch of generative AI tool ChatGTP brought AI into mass consciousness. However, there is little understanding among many people of the technology’s potential role in the food and drinks they consume.
According to the Innova Trends Survey 2025, 25% of consumers are unaware of AI use in food and beverage. (The survey is a global average of consumers from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, U.K. and U.S.)
When asked how they feel about food and beverage created by AI, a further 23% of respondents answered that they’re “curious” about it.
