This is how AI is set to help the catering industry

New strategies to attract ‘more covers’ at the table and try to rise to the challenges posed by delivery platforms. The world of out-of-home consumption is undergoing a radical and profound revolution as paradigms shift. Customers are visiting different types of eateries less frequently, whilst off-premises sales channels and large-scale retail are gaining market share. At the same time, platforms are increasingly profiling and controlling access to customers. As regards the product offering, restaurant operators and modern catering chains find themselves having to manage a whole series of cost increases, starting with those of raw materials – the food cost – labour, energy and utilities, as well as platform commissions. These are all fixed costs that are putting pressure on businesses, which are considering how to pass them on to customers. The alternative is to rethink the offering by streamlining it, embracing digital solutions and focusing on how to provide and deliver a consumer experience to customers. This is the picture that emerges from the ‘2026 Global Restaurant Report’ produced by FTI Consulting, a US-based multinational consultancy firm, which highlights how catering businesses are entering a phase characterised by a consistently higher cost structure, not subject to temporary price rises. Labour is in short supply and becoming expensive, raw material prices are volatile and rising, and delivery costs represent an additional burden on the profit and loss account. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the ability to get customers to accept higher prices is waning, as customers are now much more price-conscious, and the usual cost-cutting measures are no longer sufficient. In the US, the report highlights, the price of meat has risen by 74 per cent compared with January 2020, electricity by 40 per cent, and wages by 30 per cent.

As if that weren’t enough, new medicines have come onto the market that reduce appetite and calorie intake. The result? Portion sizes are shrinking, and demand for starters, desserts and drinks is falling in favour of more practical dishes. Consumers of these medicines are choosing restaurants with menus suited to their lighter eating habits. Consequently, those establishments that review their strategies and offerings will emerge as the winners. The era of abundance, mega-portions, soft drinks and dishes that are nutritionally and socially unnecessary is set to come to an end. In addition, there is the delivery revolution, which in the US has overtaken on-premises dining. Furthermore, over the last ten years, large-scale retail chains have begun to actively enter the catering business themselves, alongside certain food producers. Prices are affordable, and if you don’t eat in the supermarket, you opt for takeaway. According to FTI experts, the boundary between large-scale retail and the catering sector will become increasingly blurred, as can be seen, for example, with the offerings from Esselunga, Coop and Conad, which are creating dedicated spaces within their stores. To differentiate their offering, restaurateurs will need to focus on making their offerings more practical, engaging or distinct from the rest, in order to motivate and justify the customer’s choice.

Artificial intelligence will also be able to assist with both back-office and kitchen operations. This will enable the management of food preparation, stock levels, orders and staff, leading to an overall improvement in efficiency. There is, however, a ‘but’. Business owners and managers will need to integrate AI and then reorganise their processes, with the medium-term aim of increasing productivity, cutting waste, managing staff more effectively and improving the profitability of each venue.