Latest news: AI in food

Mondelez International plans to work with Accenture and Publicis to step up its use of generative AI in its marketing. 

The snacks giant said it would set up a new “platform” to create “personalised” text, images and videos more quickly and more efficiently. 

As AI becomes more capable of human interaction, companies are looking at ways to use the tech in their marketing and communications strategies. 

Mondelez, home to brands including Cadbury and Oreo, said the three companies had a “vision of redefining consumer goods marketing”. 

Jon Halvorson, Mondelez’s SVP for global consumer experiences and digital commerce, added: “Harnessing the power of gen AI will empower our people to play a proactive role in how our brands show up in the market. This drives real value for the business through creating, personalising and distributing on-trend creative not only at pace but also safely, securely and with brand integrity.” 

In a post on LinkedIn, CEO Dirk Van de Put said the tie-up with Accenture and Publicis was “an exciting step forward in our AI and gen AI capabilities”. 

He added: “Building custom-tailored content – using high-quality images paired with just the right wording – traditionally took weeks. Soon, we can do this in just a few hours – leveraging years of marketing performance data and insight to help our creative teams make smarter, more data-driven decisions.” 

Offering the examples of “the mum planning school lunches to the family shopping for a Halloween party”, Van de Put said Mondelez would be able to “more efficiently reach consumers with the most relevant products, flavours and formats at the right time, in the right setting”.

Ollie, a US company selling fresh dog food via subscriptions, has snapped up DIG Labs, a business that says it can help monitor pets’ digestive issues. 

Set up in 2019, New Jersey-based DIG Labs analyses photos of a pet’s stools and gives owners insights on their dog’s health. 

DIG Labs developed an app called Health Check that used data on stool samples, as well as on a pet’s skin, coat, teeth and gums. The company used AI on the data to support the insights offered to pet owners. 

Ollie had already teamed up with DIG Labs to launch its Health Screenings app, a partnership that led the new owner to pursue an acquisition. 

With the technology in-house, Ollie is building machine-learning models and AI applications for use in areas that also include food and recipes. 

“Pet parent demographics are shifting to younger generations, and with the acquisition of DIG Labs, we are meeting their demand for tech-enabled and personalized products to improve the quality of life for their pets and themselves,” Ollie CEO Nick Stafford said. 

“We are the only pet-food company creating a direct data-led link between what we are feeding our dogs and their health outcomes through individual pet data on stool, weight, skin and coat, and teeth and gums.” 

DIG Labs co-founder Tara Zedayko has joined Ollie to work on what the company has called a “foodback loop” to improve product development and recipe formulation.

Kellogg’s cereal manufacturer Kellanova is to invest £75m ($98m) in its cereal production in the UK. 

The US group’s site in the Welsh city of Wrexham, is set to receive the injection. Production will “more than double” to around 1.5 million boxes per day, the company said. 

Kellanova makes Special K, All Bran, Bran Flakes and Fruit ‘n Fibre cereals at the site, which opened in 1978. 

The production of other Kellogg’s cereal brands made in the UK – including Corn Flakes and Crunchy Nut – will move to the Wrexham factory as the company winds down production at its Trafford Park factory in Manchester, which is due to close in late 2026. 

When Kellanova announced the closure of the Manchester site in May, the company said the move would lead to the loss of around 360 roles. It said production at the site was no longer “viable”. 

The fresh investment is set to create at least 130 jobs at the Wales site, according to the company. 

Two new production lines will be added to the plant to improve “the sustainability of cereal manufacturing by enabling [the] use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology”.