Best and worst solutions in foodtech trends 2024

Marty McFly would be pleased with the future we live in. Flying boards and self-lacing sneakers are no longer a surprise. And robots, if not yet walking our dogs, are already cooking fried chicken in fast-food restaurants. Some might say we are moving further away from God. But we see it as a promising area of opportunity. Read on to find out exactly what they are.

In foodtech, that's all they talk about – the trends – and how wonderful they are. But not every shop or restaurant operator implements it. Some do not understand what kind of process the new technology is suitable for. Others are afraid that staff will make mistakes using it and that integration will only result in losses. All it takes to start changing is to be inspired by someone else's example. To do this, let's look at the best cases of global companies.

Today, a customer can easily start placing an order on a website or an app, but only make the final decision to buy in a physical store. The retailer needs to be with them every step of the way if they want to get their money: providing comprehensive information, giving tips on how to use the product, and offering additional products and services. ML algorithms and artificial intelligence are helping to analyze large amounts of data and identify the customer's hidden needs in order to make personalized offers.
Another driver for the foodtech industry is climate change. Under the aegis of environmental concerns, companies are changing processes and increasing the loyalty of their audiences. Let's take a look at the trends and examples being used by global companies.

Ecosystem development. The most in-demand technology in the industry right now is super apps - mobile apps that combine multiple platforms and services at once. Their share of the global market is expected to reach $722.4 billion by 2032.

“The Magnit” retailer is already capitalizing on this trend by creating its own digital ecosystem. It includes a product catalog, financial services and loyalty programs. Once launched, customers will no longer have to switch between different services – all tasks will be completed in one application, increasing user engagement and retention.

Integration of online and offline. The two channels now complement each other. For example, X5 Retail Group's customers no longer have to choose between available delivery slots and waiting for couriers. The company launched a new Click & Collect service, which allows users to order goods online and collect them themselves from pick-up points at a convenient time. This solution reduces the waiting time for delivery and improves the customer experience.

Check out our custom development for restaurant article for more ready-made ideas on how to combine the offline and online worlds in retail.

Kroger and Microsoft have launched a network of smart stores where they have installed digital displays with IoT sensors. The devices not only inform shoppers about the products they are interested in, but also help manage inventory by tracking stock levels and shelves.

In our article on self-service kiosks, we explained how these solutions work and what they can do for businesses. They can display prices and discounts, provide detailed product descriptions, link to brands' mobile apps and keep up to date with the latest offers in the catalog.

Data-driven decisions. Artificial intelligence processes the browsing history in the catalog and tracks how user behavior changes at different stages of the ordering process. The patterns and conclusions it draws help companies to segment their audiences into categories and offer the right products for each.

“The Lenta” retail chain uses AI to analyze reports on purchases made and create personalized recommendations for its customers

The Kroger brand has introduced an EDGE system in its stores to broadcast information about promotions, special offers and other marketing materials on the shelves. Using Bluetooth, the system connects to visitors' smartphones with the brand's app installed, finds the list of purchases made and makes personalized offers. For example, it can provide information about the gluten-free nature of toasted bread or the low calorie content of a can of soda.

For more ways to interact with shoppers via push notifications, read our article on BLE technology.

Inventory management. The suinstable consumption trend has not only affected customers, but also the stores themselves. The Too Good to Go project is gaining popularity in the US, helping retailers to sell even leftover products that are not in demand. Every day, items with a limited shelf life appear in its catalog at special prices. In this way, the company reduces waste and makes extra profit.

The restaurant industry has fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and is even breaking new records. According to the National Restaurant Association, global sales in the US could reach $1.1 trillion by the end of 2024. Despite the positive outlook, more than 45% of operators complain about staff shortages and turnover. With great demand comes great responsibility: modern restaurants need to become more digital to deliver the level of service customers expect. To do this, staff should learn how to use new services.

Automation. Robots are starting to do some of the work. The KFC restaurant chain is already using them to prepare chicken wings. This approach helps to reduce cooking time and maintain high quality standards.

The latest discovery at the CES 2024 international forum was Yo-Kai's robot, which can prepare fresh bubble tea in just a few minutes. All the customer has to do is choose a serving size and a topping, and the drink is ready in no time.

Robotics is an expensive solution that is currently only available to large companies. It is also often used only as a PR campaign. But the trend is motivating many foodtech startups to make robots and drones their product market fit. Rozum Robotics, for example, offers its customers a turnkey automated coffee shop. The small station is manned by a robot barista who professionally brews 6 types of coffee and takes only a few minutes to prepare a serving.

Care for the environment. As capitalisation and production volumes grow, so does the responsibility of brands. McDonald's has launched a global programme to reduce plastic waste in its restaurants. Instead of the usual plastic lids and straws for drinks, the company is using alternative paper packaging. On the one hand, this is a really cool and valuable initiative that enhances the corporate social responsibility of brands, improves their reputation and attracts new audiences. On the other hand, it requires a lot of investment for large companies. So it is better for start-ups to build their production processes around such solutions from the outset to optimize costs.

Emerging formats. By the end of 2024, dark kitchens are expected to take over 50 per cent of all delivery orders, as they are much cheaper to set up and maintain. On average, it costs between $3,000 and $50,000 to open a new point, and the cost of running a point is 40-50% cheaper than running a traditional restaurant.

Many chains are closing the offline service. For example, CloudKitchens, a company founded by Travis Kalanick, offers off-the-shelf solutions for creating a dark kitchen network for companies that want to operate exclusively in food delivery mode.

Additional sales channels. Bite Ninja helps restaurants to attract remote customers with drive-through service. This is a roadside service format where customers place and receive their order in a dedicated area without leaving their car. Thanks to POS integration and the connection of a standard headset, virtual assistants guide the customer through all stages – from clarifying details and ingredients to serving the food. This approach not only increases the accuracy and speed of service, but also saves on staffing costs.

According to Gitnux Research, more than 60% of shoppers in the US order goods and groceries from home at least once a week, and the total share of the global delivery services market will reach $185.525 million by 2025. Let's take a look at current trends in this area.

20 minute delivery. Speed is the main criterion on which major brands compete today. The Yandex.Food service has started testing drone delivery, which is expected to reduce the average delivery time to 15-20 minutes.

Another solution is offered by Vayu One, whose delivery robots learn to recognise cycle paths to take more convenient and faster routes.

Hybrid models. Previously, the companies had separate delivery services for different categories of goods. The example of the collaboration between Delivery Club and Ozon will now make it possible to order both groceries and ready-made meals through one application. Customers will be able to combine multiple items in a single application, saving them time and allowing businesses to increase the average check. For more examples, see our article on current solutions for delivery services.

Data security. Phone number, address, personal preferences – the more personal information customers share with delivery services, the more vulnerable they are to cyberattacks. That's why brands like Uber Eats use multi-factor authentication – a process to confirm identity when logging in. In addition to entering a code from a text message, the user must use other channels that only the user can access. Large organizations use applications such as Google Authenticator and Authy.

Artificial intelligence is also improving security systems. It quickly analyzes huge amounts of data, better identifies potential risks and offers more protection options for delivery programmes. To do this, AI is learning to distinguish human speech and voice requests from fraudulent scripts, recognise users' faces when authenticating via biometrics, and automatically detect hacking threats from fake accounts. Read our article to learn more about how you can integrate AI into your business.

Innovative models. Delivery startups no longer need full-fledged offline locations. NextBite finds and selects unused space to lease to online-only businesses. The company also helps launch delivery brands from scratch and connects them to popular third-party services such as Doordash, Postmates, Uber Eats and Grubhub.

If you haven't tried any of the approaches below, don't even try them. They have all failed the test of time and the market, and we will explain why.

Point Solutions. During the pandemic, restaurants and shops released masses of apps that did just one thing. For example, taking delivery orders or accumulating rewards for purchases in a loyalty programme. Now, users do not want to constantly switch between different services, and it becomes difficult for employees to work in multiple systems at the same time to synchronize processes.

Here are some proven ideas and chips for your future app.

Each project can implement multiple solutions that logically complement each other, creating an infrastructure that integrates processes – from sourcing and inventory management to driving sales through gamification. We've outlined what the perfect loyalty programme can look like in our article.

Poor analytics performance. The use of IoT, AI and ML gives companies the opportunity to work with large amounts of data. But not every business owner understands what to do with this information and how to process it. Mistakes start at the stage of working with data. You need to know how to collect it, but also how to process and interpret it. Unclear interpretation leads to wrong conclusions. The integration of analytical systems that can be flexibly adapted to the specifics of the business helps to solve this problem.

Problems with adapting new technologies. With limited resources, restaurants and shops may not be prepared to invest in new technology. But even for those that do decide to implement new solutions, there are problems.

An attempt by McDonald's to fully entrust AI with taking orders led to a large number of errors and customer dissatisfaction. As a result, the project was abandoned.

X5 Retail Group's experience of integrating AI was also unsuccessful. They used it to monitor shelves and signal when they needed to be restocked. The reason for the failure is not the most obvious: employees were constantly bumping into the cameras during cleaning, changing focus and direction, which meant the system received unreliable information. As a result, the solution was soon abandoned.

According to the research, the foodtech market will grow to $405 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%.

Here are just a few of the changes you can look forward to next year:

No matter how fantastic the trends and predictions may seem, many of them will become part of foodtech reality. And if you don't have a robot cooking in your restaurant kitchen yet, that doesn't mean you can't start automating your business by solving simpler tasks.

This is what we believe will improve business processes and customer service without implementing super-expensive technology:

Every problem your business faces today is capable of being solved. The main thing is to find a way to do it. If you've been searching for the right tool for a long time, trying to implement trends and still haven't been able to grow and scale, write to us.