The rise of AI in the food and beverage industry is expected to bolster flavor innovation while predicting trends for ingredients and product claims. In a move that could help manufacturers get ahead of consumer demand, Symrise recently launched Symvision AI, an AI-based multisource prediction tool that gathers actionable insights for market-relevant opportunities. 

Food Ingredients First speaks with experts from Symrise ahead of the company’s March 13 webinar, Symvision AI—Predicting the Future of Taste, Nutrition, and Health. The event will provide an in-depth look at how AI enables manufacturers to understand market trends, improve formulations, and anticipate shifting consumer attitudes.

“The digitization of the F&B industry is unstoppable, setting new standards for the future and opening up new potential on various levels,” says Leif Jago, global marketing manager, Food & Beverage at Symrise.

“New technological possibilities are leading to AI-powered F&B innovations. The generation of insights and flavor innovation has become more efficient and multifaceted, thanks to data-driven research.”

He explains that AI can inspire F&B innovation while aiding human expertise and creativity in creating more personalized concepts.

A data-driven approach

As consumer preferences evolve amid globalization, identifying trends has become crucial to gauge consumer perception. “Sociocultural shifts across the globe lead to changes in consumer attitudes when choosing F&B products,” Jago notes.

According to him, brands increasingly leverage AI to optimize and speed up product development. He notes that AI-powered predictions are also in demand as technological advancements make way for analyzing taste characteristics, enabling novel flavor combinations based on data.

Jago explains that Symvision AI has been “designed to navigate the future of taste, nutrition, and health,” allowing the fragrance and flavor player to create products that respond to changing consumer demands.

Dr. Dariah Lutsch, research manager, Global Sensory & Consumer Insights Food & Beverage at Symrise, shares how the tool adopts a data-driven approach to push F&B innovation “at the right time in the right place.”

“To reliably predict transformation and trends, it uses a unique data structure considering Symrise’s internal and external data sources and historical data. With this prediction tool, Symrise supports food and beverage manufacturers to identify new market opportunities. It is a fast and data-driven tool that is continuously evolving.”

Furthermore, the tool offers an understanding of how these trends shape up across the globe and product categories. Additionally, it shows which consumer needs and emotional benefits specific taste tonalities respond to, enabling key recommendations for specific product categories and markets.

As AI evolves, its role in decoding consumer preferences and shaping product development will only become more significant. Dr. Conor Delahunty, VP of Global Sensory & Consumer Insights Food & Beverage at Symrise, agrees.

He shares that the company will continue to equip Symvision AI with more data points and functions, translating into more customer benefits.

“Symrise has significant data, knowledge, and expertise of very high value. We will continue to develop our AI tools based on this retained knowledge as a key competitive differentiator in different areas, from research and technology and product development to insight generation,” Delahunty concludes.