Artificial intelligence touched nearly every corner of the food and beverage industry in 2025 – and its influence is only beginning.
Manufacturing, formulation, packaging, agriculture and marketing were all impacted by AI, as companies across the food production ecosystem scrambled to integrate the technology into their workflows.
From consumer research and trend-spotting to rapid product development, government-backed innovation and climate resilience strategies, AI is rapidly reshaping how food is designed, made and brought to market.
Consumers on the AI fence
A survey of UK and US consumers released at the beginning of the year by Ingredient Communications showed that 42% of survey respondents held a positive view of using AI in food and beverage production and design.
Nearly half of respondents (48%) were open to the idea of allowing artificial intelligence to analyze their genetic makeup for the purpose of making nutrition recommendations, while 29% were against it.
While consumers were largely split on the use of artificial intelligence in food development, more than four out of every five (83%) said companies should disclose when they use AI to create products.
That’s compared to 4% who believe labeling AI-developed food products should not have to declare it on the label, according to the survey.
AI-powered consumer research
Consumer opinions about the tech and products it creates will also be monitored and directed by AI moving forward, according to Kirsten Lamb, a content strategist for consumer insights platform Zappi.
“AI is a great tool for analyzing past customer behavior and preferences and making predictions about what they’ll need in the future,” said Lamb. “Predictive analytics brings together a range of techniques. It uses machine learning, statistical models and data mining to analyze historical data and predict future trends.”
Product development companies like Starday are also ushering in a new era of food trend predictions using AI. The company raised $9 million earlier this year for its tech that taps into trends by using LLMs to analyze surveys, receipts, menus and other data.
Product development at lightning speed
NotCo AI continued to make headlines this year with its groundbreaking platform Giuseppe, which the company has used to develop plant-based versions of products, earning it partnerships with food giants like Kraft Heinz.
The Santiago, Chile-based AI company released a B2B portal for food developers, known as Concept Quant, in early 2025. In November, NotCo announced a partnership with the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer, Barry Callebaut, to help the company better navigate the cocoa crisis.
NotCo isn’t the only company using AI for formulation. California-based Food Tech company Shiru is leveraging AI to power its ingredient discovery platform, Flourish. Meanwhile, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) launched its own R&D platform, CoDeveloper, this year, which uses AI to connect food scientists with its 85-year-old research database.
Product development using AI is becoming even more sophisticated with the development of AI agents, such as Luna AI. The tech company’s R&D agents tap into a company’s key performance indicators, or KPI, and systematically tackle research tasks needed to bring new products to market.
“This agent is so well trained on this domain, you just give it your KPI and it will do everything else for you,” said Manmit Shrimali, CEO of Turing Labs, which developed Luna AI. “It’s so proactive you don’t need to learn a software. There is no need to learn 100 different things.”
CPG analytics is also getting the AI treatment via Sous, a company launched by Alice Mintz, a longtime consultant for data analytics firm Spins. The tech uses AI to analyze point-of-sale and retail data to better understand distribution, promotional strategy, innovation patterns and more.
What about the environment?
While using AI to help curb the impacts of climate change may seem antithetical, considering its drain on energy and water, the technology is helping with crop risk assessment, according to Jon Davis, chief meteorologist at Everstream Analytics.
“As organizations struggle to grapple with intensifying climate changes, understanding where and when harvests could be impacted has become paramount, not only for major food and beverage organizations, but for the people and businesses who rely on these products,” he said.
Companies are also deploying AI in the development of cultivated products that could completely bypass the environmental impacts of farming.
French startup Gourmey is working with biotech firm DeepLife to develop cultivated meat. They feed sequencing data from avian cells into large language models (LLMs), making it easier to understand how cells interact with one another.
The tech is also making its way into food packaging by companies like Scorpion Vision, which uses AI for tasks like de-coring lettuce and trimming leeks.
The AI models the food, empowering robots to more accurately handle the product, which leads to less waste, according to Philip Wilson, who oversees factory automation at Scorpion Vision. The company is also pioneering AI-powered sorting technology for quality control, he said.
