Major snackfood companies are using AI to create new flavors

Mondelez makes Ritz crackers, Cadbury chocolate, Clif bars, Triscuits, Tate’s cookies and Toblerone, among other snacks. Food scientists there are now using AI to create optimal recipes by specifying desired characteristics, including flavor (“buttery,” “in-mouth saltiness,” or “vanilla intensity,” for instance), aroma (“oily,” “egg flavor,” “burnt,” among others) and appearance (“amount of chips,” “roundness,” “chip edges” are considerations). The tool also considers parameters like the cost of ingredients, their environmental impact and their nutritional profile. Employees are extremely tight-lipped on Mondelez’s proprietary recipes, but the AI tool does work with that information. It then suggests a handful of new recipes that meet the requirements, a process that previously was more or less trial and error. To be sure, the AI suggestions are taste-tested, but new products are getting to pilot or production trials four to five times faster, the company said.