Caramelised onion brownies and jalapeno plum cakes – just two of the products that artificial intelligence (AI) thinks are good ideas. Another is a Blackberry & Mascarpone Cake.
Only one of these ideas made it to consumers thanks to the intervention and common sense of the team at Mademoiselle Desserts, which was exploring the use of AI for recipe development and NPD.
Prior to this point, the dessert manufacturer had mostly been using AI to analyse consumer needs and trends for key product categories, but it wanted to push the boundaries further. Working with Tastewise, a company that specialises in generative AI for the food & beverage industry, Mademoiselle Desserts tasked it with creating colourful cakes for the autumn and winter season.
“We don’t think consumers are ready for caramelised onion brownies just yet”
“We started by using rather generic keywords such as ‘colourful cakes’ or ‘autumn cakes’ as prompts but we realised that by doing so, it was coming up with all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations, most of which were not relevant or too out there,” explains Melissa Shaw, product development controller at Mademoiselle Desserts. “Before we narrowed things down using more specific and precise prompts, AI did what it does best… it got very, very creative.”
Some of the highlights from the initial list included the bold idea of a caramelised onion brownie and a spicy plum cake. The latter doesn’t sound too controversial until it became apparent that it consisted of an upside down caramelised plum cake covered with slices of fresh jalapeno.
“As much as we’re all for getting creative, we didn’t think consumers are ready for caramelised onion brownies just yet,” adds Shaw.
Following on from this, Mademoiselle used the ‘consumer moments’ section of the search engine to narrow down some flavours which fitted with the season, choosing to focus on blackberry, pumpkin, plum, apple, and hazelnuts. This resulted in “better, more precise concept suggestions”.
“Out of the list of suggestions we ended up with, we decided to go forward with three: a Pumpkin & Nutella Swirled Cake, a highly visual Orange Delight Cake, and a Blackberry & Mascarpone Cake decorated with a swirled icing and jam,” Shaw explains. Enter the bakers.
“As much as AI came in handy at ideation stage, one thing is for certain, it can’t replace the expertise and the hands of our bakers,” Shaw enthuses.
Working within the company’s production specifications, the team started breaking down the conceptualised cake – including the sponge, cream, filling, and fruit jam – and then turned to its bank of tried and tested recipes as a starting point. They were adapted to better replicate the visuals and flavour combinations of the AI generated image, description, and recipe.
“The plan isn’t for it to replace our bakers and their creative brains but simply to help them expand their horizons while saving some of their precious time”
All three options were found to be delicious, but it was the Blackberry & Mascarpone Cake which progressed to the final stages of development as it was deemed to tick more boxes from a consumer trend standpoint. This included being “highly visual, colourful, and having a premium/refined taste with the use of mascarpone”, while the others were considered “a bit too conventional/mainstream”.
So, what does this mean for recipe development at Mademoiselle Desserts, and in general?
“Whether we like it or not, whether we’re excited by AI or scared of it, it looks like it’s here to stay so we may as well try and make the most of it,” believes Anthony Saison, head of category insights & customer marketing for Mademoiselle Desserts, adding that the firm intends to use it more going forward, including as part of the NPD process, and is investing accordingly.
That said, the firm’s bakers won’t be hanging up their whites anytime soon, Saison insists.
“Of course, the share of our range to be generated by AI will remain secondary and the plan isn’t for it to replace our bakers and their creative brains but simply to help them expand their horizons while saving some of their precious time and creating some interesting marketing opportunities along the way,” he concludes.
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