
Mondelez Leverages AI to Accelerate Snack Innovation | Image Source: gizmodo.com
NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2024 — Mondelez International, the global snack conglomerate behind popular brands like Oreos, Chips Ahoy, and Clif Bars, has embraced artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize its product development process. According to Gizmodo, Mondelez has been using a proprietary AI tool to rapidly generate ideas for new snacks, blending cutting-edge technology with traditional food science to create optimal recipes. This move marks a significant shift for a company rooted in analog consumer products, positioning it at the forefront of AI adoption in the food industry.
As per The Wall Street Journal, the development of Mondelez’s AI tool began in 2019, and the company’s food scientists now utilize it to specify and achieve desired product characteristics. These characteristics include flavor profiles, such as “buttery” or “vanilla intensity,” aroma descriptors like “oily” or “burnt,” and visual elements, such as “roundness” or “amount of chips.” Additionally, the tool factors in parameters like ingredient cost, environmental impact, and nutritional content to optimize recipes effectively.
How the AI Tool Works
Unlike generative AI models, which often hallucinate unpredictable outputs, Mondelez employs machine learning—a traditional form of AI designed to optimize specific outcomes. The tool functions similarly to how navigation apps like Waze calculate the fastest route, analyzing vast amounts of data to determine the best mix of ingredients to achieve specific snack characteristics. According to Mondelez, this process minimizes guesswork and reduces reliance on simple trial-and-error methods traditionally used to create new products.
Mondelez told the Journal that its AI system is trained on the “essence” of existing products, such as Oreos, ensuring that any newly generated recipes align closely with consumer expectations. Taste-testing, of course, remains an integral part of the development process, as human feedback ultimately determines the product’s viability. Nevertheless, the AI tool has significantly accelerated product development timelines, allowing recipes to reach production trials four to five times faster than before.
Early Challenges and Lessons Learned
Despite its current success, the AI tool faced challenges in its early iterations due to limited data inputs. In one instance, the tool, focusing heavily on cost optimization, proposed cookie recipes with excessive amounts of baking soda—a low-cost ingredient. However, as Wallenstein, Mondelez’s biscuit digital R&D section manager, explained, this approach led to unpalatable results. He noted,
“Because [baking soda is] a very low-cost ingredient, it would try to just make cookies that were very high in baking soda, which doesn’t taste good at all.”
These early missteps underscored the importance of refining the tool with comprehensive datasets and training it on the essence of existing products. By doing so, Mondelez ensured the AI could make sophisticated recipe suggestions without veering too far from established quality and taste standards.
The Broader Implications of AI in Food Development
Mondelez’s use of AI reflects a broader trend across industries, where businesses are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence to drive innovation and efficiency. In the food sector, AI offers immense potential to streamline recipe development, optimize ingredient sourcing, and improve sustainability. For Mondelez, the AI tool represents not only a competitive advantage but also a solution to growing pressures for faster product development cycles and cost efficiency.
In line with investor enthusiasm for AI-driven initiatives, analysts expect Mondelez’s stock performance to benefit from the company’s technological advancements. According to Gizmodo, the AI tool’s ability to deliver rapid and reliable results could help Mondelez capture market share in an industry where trends shift quickly and consumer demands for variety remain high. By marrying machine learning with human expertise, the company has positioned itself to meet these challenges head-on.
AI in Practice: Balancing Technology and Taste
While AI plays a central role in Mondelez’s product development, human input remains critical to ensuring new products meet consumer expectations. Recipes generated by the AI tool are still subjected to rigorous taste tests, where food scientists evaluate the results and make adjustments as needed. This hybrid approach highlights the importance of balancing technology with human intuition and expertise in creative industries like food development.
Mondelez’s focus on using machine learning, rather than generative AI, also reflects a pragmatic approach to AI adoption. Unlike generative models, which are prone to unpredictable or “hallucinated” outputs, machine learning optimizes outcomes based on structured data and defined parameters. This makes it particularly well-suited to applications where precision, consistency, and quality are paramount, such as recipe development.
The Future of AI in the Snack Industry
Mondelez’s success with AI-driven snack development could pave the way for broader adoption of similar technologies across the food industry. As companies seek to innovate faster and respond to evolving consumer preferences, AI tools that optimize recipes, reduce costs, and enhance sustainability will become increasingly valuable. For Mondelez, the AI tool represents just the beginning of its technological transformation, with potential applications extending to other aspects of its operations, such as supply chain management and marketing.
According to industry experts, the integration of AI into food development has the potential to reshape the market, enabling companies to experiment with bold new flavors, improve nutritional profiles, and minimize waste. As Mondelez continues to refine its AI capabilities, the company is likely to inspire other food manufacturers to explore similar strategies, accelerating innovation across the sector.
Mondelez’s move to integrate AI into its product development process marks a significant milestone for the snack industry. By leveraging machine learning to optimize recipes, the company has demonstrated how technology can drive efficiency, reduce development timelines, and meet consumer demands for high-quality products. As per reports from The Wall Street Journal and Gizmodo, Mondelez’s AI tool stands as a testament to the power of blending innovation with tradition, ensuring that beloved snack brands like Oreos and Chips Ahoy remain relevant in an increasingly competitive market.