Recently, one of the leading players in the Asian food space, Speciality Restaurants Ltd announced that the company is looking to clock a revenue of INR 1,000 crore with technology intervention and brand refresh. The multi-brand restaurant chain's standalone net profit in the first half of (April-September) FY'23 stood at INR 27.67 crore from a turnover of INR 195 crore, recovering from Covid pandemic headwinds.

Moving forward, the Kolkata-headquartered company's key focus will be on "leveraging its key brands and upgrading technology, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), to enhance customer experience and drive revenue growth by maintaining EBIDTA of over 25 percent", Speciality Restaurants CMD Anjan Chatterjee said.

AI is transforming the restaurant industry in India, revolutionizing operations, customer service, marketing, and more. AI has brought about significant changes in the way restaurants function, providing them with new and innovative ways to improve their business. 

Large restaurant chains like Domino's, and McDonald's are already using AI for demand and purchase planning, but small brands may not have the resources or expertise to implement these solutions. Harshit Mittal, CTO, & CO-Founder of SupplyNote informed that SupplyNote is helping small restaurants leverage AI-powered solutions to improve their operations and increase their competitive edge.

“One of the significant ways in which restaurants are using AI is demand planning. With AI-powered demand planning, restaurants can accurately predict the demand for their products based on seasonality, day of the week, events, and social media trends. This helps restaurants to optimize their inventory levels and reduce waste while increasing efficiency,” he commented.

He further shared that another way in which restaurants are leveraging AI is in purchase planning. AI algorithms analyze historical data and trends to determine the right quantity and timing of orders, reducing the risk of overstocking and stockouts.

Several food tech companies are using AI in food production for increasing on-demand meals, personal chefs, and grocery and food delivery services. The Indian food industry has undergone a drastic change and restaurant owners are not shying away from adopting new AI methods for doing the work of so many people. 

Faasos is using AI for ordering food on its mobile app and website, and it currently operates in 16 Indian cities. Faasos aggregates restaurants from different chains and individual restaurants to provide a wide range of foods to customers. Despite scaling and sustainability problems, it has managed to strike a balance.

Bengaluru-based kitchen-tech company Mukunda Foods is the brainchild of Eshwar K Vikas and Sudeep Sabat.  The brand has been providing automation solutions to cloud kitchens since 2012. The company has been using advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Image Analytics, Assistive Cooking Technology, Centralised Cloud Computing and High Steam Microwave. 

Using these technologies, the company has manufactured five machines that are able to cook global cuisines such as Indian, Chinese, South Indian, Pizza, Biryani and Snacks. These five machines are Dosamatic (A fully automatic dosa-making machine); Wokie (Automatic Cooking Station for Chinese food and Indian,Thai gravies); Rico (The Automatic Rice, Noodle & Pasta Maker); Eco-Fryer (For frying French Fries, Momos, Samosas, Burger Patties, etc. in less oil) and E-Pan (An Automatic Griller). The company has installed their machines in over 22 countries so far.

Although several players in the market have helped ease and scale operational efficiencies for restaurants through smart, innovative SaaS products, POS systems and AI, sadly, six out of 10 restaurants still shut down within the very first year of their incorporation because of major gaps in ROI and profitability. 

This is when founders Sukrat Ray and Neha Khandelwal discovered the need to disrupt the restaurant SaaS industry to help restaurants enhance their dine-in services and boost profitability through a seamless engagement, marketing, and payment ecosystem. 

“We’ve worked very hard to identify loopholes in the restaurant industry from the perspectives of both sellers and eaters, and have developed and executed solutions that are backed by technology, human intelligence, and AI - a combination that I haven’t seen executed in the way UpSale does. It also puts the company in a position to launch its financial services segment in future to have an upper hand on digital wallets, invoicing, and offering capital to restaurants that are often refused loans”, Neha Khandelwal had shared.

Not just in customer experience and operations, AI has the power to streamline the whole restaurant business. 

Personalized Marketing

Personalized marketing is a powerful tool for restaurants to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. With the help of AI-powered marketing tools, restaurants can now analyze customer data and understand their preferences to tailor their marketing campaigns accordingly. AI tools can track customer behavior, purchase history, and social media activity to provide insights into what customers like and dislike. By leveraging this data, restaurants can create personalized offers, recommendations, and promotions that cater to individual customer needs.

Inventory Management

Inventory management is crucial for restaurants to optimize their supply chain and reduce costs. AI-powered inventory management systems help restaurants predict demand and automate ordering processes. AI can analyze data from past sales, seasonal trends, and external factors such as weather, holidays, and events to forecast demand accurately. This enables restaurants to stock up on the right inventory levels, avoid stockouts, and reduce waste. AI-powered inventory management systems can also integrate with suppliers to automate the ordering process, streamline deliveries, and reduce manual work.

Menu Optimization

Menu optimization is essential for restaurants to increase profitability and customer satisfaction. AI-powered menu optimization tools can analyze sales data, customer feedback, and external factors such as seasonality, competition, and pricing to identify which items are popular and which ones are not. By using this information, restaurants can optimize their menu by removing items that do not sell well, highlighting popular dishes, and creating new dishes that cater to customer preferences. This not only increases profitability but also enhances the overall customer experience.

Streamlined Ordering

Streamlining the ordering process is essential for restaurants to improve efficiency and reduce wait times. AI-powered ordering systems can simplify the ordering process by automating menu selection, order placement, and payment processing. These systems can also integrate with tableside tablets and mobile apps to allow customers to place orders on their own. By reducing manual work, these systems can speed up the ordering process, reduce errors, and free up staff to focus on other tasks.

Enhanced Customer Service

Enhancing customer service is critical for restaurants to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. AI-powered chatbots can handle customer inquiries, provide recommendations, and even take orders, freeing up staff to focus on more complex tasks. These chatbots can integrate with popular messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, providing customers with an easy and convenient way to interact with restaurants. Chatbots can also learn from past interactions to provide personalized recommendations and improve the overall customer experience.

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is essential for restaurants to ensure the proper functioning of their equipment and reduce downtime. AI-powered predictive maintenance systems can monitor equipment sensors, usage patterns, and environmental factors to predict when maintenance is required. These systems can also schedule maintenance activities during off-hours to reduce disruption to operations. By preventing equipment failure and reducing downtime, predictive maintenance can save restaurants money on repairs and increase operational efficiency.

Fraud Detection

Fraud detection is crucial for restaurants to protect their business and customers from fraudulent activities. AI-powered fraud detection tools can analyze transaction data, identify patterns, and alert restaurant owners when suspicious activities are detected. These tools can detect activities such as card skimming, fake IDs, and counterfeit bills, and prevent fraudulent transactions from occurring. By reducing the risk of fraud, restaurants can protect their business and reputation.

Food Safety

Ensuring food safety is critical for restaurants to protect their customers from foodborne illnesses. AI-powered foodsafety systems can monitor food temperatures, humidity levels, and other environmental factors to ensure that food is stored and prepared correctly. These systems can also monitor hygiene practices, such as handwashing and cleaning, to ensure that food is handled in a safe and sanitary manner. By automating food safety monitoring, restaurants can reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses, comply with health and safety regulations, and improve their overall reputation.

Staff Scheduling

Staff scheduling is a complex task for restaurants, involving multiple factors such as employee availability, workload, and labor laws. AI-powered staff scheduling tools can analyze data from past schedules, employee preferences, and business needs to create optimized schedules. These tools can also handle shift swaps, time-off requests, and other scheduling changes automatically, reducing the workload on managers and improving employee satisfaction. By optimizing staff schedules, restaurants can reduce labor costs, improve employee morale, and increase operational efficiency.

Sales Forecasting

Sales forecasting is crucial for restaurants to plan their operations, staffing, and inventory management. AI-powered sales forecasting systems can analyze data from past sales, seasonality, promotions, and external factors such as weather and events to predict future sales accurately. By having a clear understanding of future demand, restaurants can optimize their operations, staff appropriately, and stock up on the right inventory levels. This can lead to increased profitability, reduced waste, and improved customer satisfaction.

However, the full benefits of artificial intelligence in the restaurant business are yet to be determined, but they will go beyond robots that take orders, prepare food, and deliver it. AI will assist restaurant owners in making effective use of enormous volumes of data, which will ultimately result in a fundamental improvement in the dining experience. Even though AI is a trendy term, this technology is not out of reach for typical restaurants.