Brewers adopting AI must be wary of challenges

After disrupting different industries, artificial intelligence (AI) now finds its way through the beverage industry.

Against this backdrop, Shagun Sachdeva, consumer insights analyst at GlobalData, offers her view on the impact of AI in the brewery industry:

“As the field of AI continues to grow, leading breweries in APAC [Asia-Pacific region] are embracing the latest technologies to create better customized taste combinations and ensure higher-quality products that meet food-safety regulations. For instance in 2017, Japanese brewery Kirin Holdings Company collaborated with Mitsubishi Research Institute to employ AI for determining optimum brewing formulas. The machine learning-based algorithm will analyse 20 years’ worth of data to customize various factors like flavor, aroma and alcohol content of the beer, thereby shortening the time period for product development.”

The analyst also states that the Japanese brewery Asahi Shuzo had partnered with Fujitsu Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories in 2018 to launch a trial to brew Dassai sake using a predictive AI model. “By combining a mathematical model defining the process of sake brewing with machine learning that uses data obtained in the brewing of Dassai, this predictive AI model technology will provide data to support an optimized sake brewing process. Asahi hopes to not only maintain the sake quality but also overcome labor shortage problem in Japan’s aging society”, she said.

Concerning the challenges AI may imply for breweries Sachdewa explains: However, brewers contemplating to incorporate AI in their operations must understand the challenges that come with its adoption. With cost being the leading factor, brewers need to be ready with deep pockets. Another challenge is whether to build in-house technology or buy it. Even when the brewers find the perfect vendor, another obstacle will be integrating and using the new AI technology with the existing system. On top of it, in a competitive market environment where companies are known to guard their secret recipes fiercely, analyzing AI solution would be just as good as looking at a black box without understanding how this technology is adding value and how sustainable that value-addition is.”