A lightly grilled beef taste for use in plant-based meat alternatives has been developed using artificial intelligence (AI). Swiss flavor giant Firmenich hails this creation as a key milestone in its digital transformation as the technology enhances flavorists’ capability to create bespoke, superior taste solutions and accelerates product development. 

The group is currently in advanced testing on several new AI-generated flavors across its core tonalities, which means more AI-created flavors are on the horizon. 

For now, the company unveils the beef taste that utilizes AI to optimize ingredient combinations to create a customized taste, especially for the increasingly popular meat-free space. 

Beyond flavor boundaries: Animal derivatives are no longer “center of plate”
The world’s first AI flavor was created in collaboration with Microsoft and leveraged the entirety of Firmenich’s broad raw material database. 

The resulting grilled beef flavor capitalizes on Firmenich’s unique palette of ingredients and “SmartProteins” expertise in plant-based protein alternatives. 

Firmenich’s Smart Protein portfolio of flavor ingredients has been designed to address customer needs in alternative proteins and to perform in a range of protein bases while facing challenges of cleaner and more transparent labeling. 

The portfolio helps customers create vegetarian and vegan alternatives to traditional meat and dairy-based products in savory, sweet and beverages. 

The AI-flavor debut closely follows Firmenich launching its new biotechnology pilot plant and laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Leveraging novel digital technologies, the facility is touted as opening “a new era for the development of ingredients and clean label solutions” by providing faster speed-to-market and greater flexibility for customer collaboration.

AI-optimized ingredients 
AI allows the Firmenich flavor creation team to explore new boundaries with a precise formula starting point, as well as additional suggestions for optimized ingredient combinations from which they can create tailored tastes.

“Firmenich is marrying the most fundamental elements of our DNA: ground-breaking innovation with the unique creativity of our flavorists for enhanced formulation,” says chief digital and information officer, Eric Saracchi. 

Adapting and pivoting amid COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis has changed the food innovation landscape as well as the consumer marketplace, according to Firmenich flavors president Emmanuel Butstraen, who explains how Firmenich has quickly responded to a changing environment. 

“We must understand and respond to these rapidly-evolving needs with more creativity at an even faster pace. Whether through offering moments of comfort and delight or addressing the larger shift toward healthier food and beverages,” he says. 

“The addition of AI allows us to better leverage different raw materials and explore new creative leads. Taking into account specific product parameters such as 100 percent natural ingredients and regulatory requirements, the technology enhances our flavorists’ capability to create superior taste solutions and accelerate our product development.”

The increasing use of AI 
AI application is emerging with the F&B industry with an increasing amount of companies and brands leveraging its capabilities across different sectors. 

In terms of shaping the future of the industry, AI can have a key role to play thanks to its capabilities in predictions, precision and forecasting. 

For instance, the better the dairy industry is at predicting what milk intakes will be, the better companies can plan and optimize their entire value chains. Arla Foods’ AI tool predicts how much milk 1.5 million cows can produce and allows calculating milk production to be reduced to a few hours. 

In another “world-first”, Swedish distillery Mackmyra, in collaboration with Fourkind and Microsoft, created AI-developed whiskey last May. 

Earlier in the summer, the power of AI and how it can be utilized within F&B was a key theme during the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) virtual expo, SHIFT20. Companies and speakers showcased how AI can be used to analyze data points to provide direction for NPD and go-to-market strategies for product launches. 

Tracking and predicting purchasing behaviors and customer sentiment can help brands identify common characteristics of products that have succeeded, versus those that have failed.