Woolworths has launched a partnership with UK-based food tech start-up Spoon Guru. Spoon Guru’s artificial intelligence (AI) patented software helps online retailers help consumers find the right foods through machine learning, nutritional and labelling information.
The start-up today announced expansion into the US (with JET, part of the Walmart Group), Netherlands (Albert Heijn), New Zealand (Countdown) and Australia.
Spoon Guru's co-founder and co-CEO Markus Stripf says, “The technology provides an innovative solution to a world-wide pain-point; sixty four per cent of the world’s population is on some form of exclusion diet and whether this is due to allergy, intolerance or health and lifestyle choices, the demand for a more personalised approach to food shopping is clear.”
The software means when consumers are shopping online for groceries they will be able to filter their food searches to include specific dietary attributes from allergies and intolerances, such as milk or tree nuts, to individual dietary requirements, such as vegan, vegetarian and healthy choices such as low saturated fat or high fibre.
Its proprietary technology uses a combination of AI, algorithms and human expertise to make products more accessible, searchable and discoverable. A recent AI study revealed Spoon Guru technology is more efficient and accurate than health professionals when it comes to recommending suitable foods, Stripf says.
In the UK, Tesco has adopted the software for its online grocery business as well as in-app shopping. Stripf says Tesco has seen a "big" increase in basket conversion, with some search terms seeing an up to 500 per cent conversion increase.
