Mobile App based Food Delivery – How safe is it and what is the next big thing?

Our generation is quite messed up, we are using our mental skills more than the physical. We don't even have time to cook, forget growing crops in farms like ancient times. We are so busy with technology, corporate and social life that we often neglect our health. The technology took over our kitchens and eating out slowly became a norm and guess what we are one step further than just eating out. Sometimes, we want to eat food which is cooked by someone else but in our own surroundings, we want convenience. I am talking about the rise of food delivery apps.

Companies around the world are researching about human behavior and they figured out the fact, EATING OUT. Now, what’s next? Some tech guy discovered a new formula of having an option of delivery, not a traditional way but Technologically. We all have Apps that have hundreds of restaurants in the area and just by pressing a button, we can get our favorite meals delivered at the doorstep, just like the fashion and retail and all other stuff. Many companies are competing on the same idea, someone invented, and others copied. So, as Consumers, are you benefitting or losing?

Grandma’s theory of cooking the meal and consuming it immediately or within 4 hours is long lost, our high-tech fridges keep the food fresh and tasty. Now in this era when we work for 9 hours in the office and have to deal with kids and their homework and after-school classes, we sometimes get carried away, especially on the weekends.

Food delivery apps are trending, we also ordered a meal last weekend after rushing from an event, kids were half asleep they had eaten, and we were damn hungry. We wanted to try the app, by the time we reached home, got changed, the food got delivered. It was hot and delicious, we didn’t wait and finished it all. But there was one thing, which is still bothering me. The food was hot and was sent in plastic containers, it looked squeezed because of the heat, mainly the curry. We keep listening about plastic and cancer, we are told not to heat food in plastic containers and then the restaurant delivery comes with the hot food in plastic, it seems hazardous. When we go to a restaurant we are served in ceramic plates and not in plastic. We know eating out too much can mess our systems then this way we are just not even eating outside food but also risking ourselves with another hazard.

I was listening to the Food delivery companies at an event, they are training their riders to match consumer demands, they want to provide convenience. The riders are well trained and the food is often delivered on time and customer service is unmatched. The only flaw here would be using the plastic containers. I know it's not the delivery guys who pack the food but the restaurants. Maybe they can approach their clients to increase the use of biodegradable disposables for deliveries. These companies can surely make a difference.

The new technology in F&B business is Artificial Intelligence. There is a new food delivery app that delivers food at least 30 minutes before the person will realize he is hungry. It is revolutionizing the food delivery market says it is able to do so because it is the first app in this segment that uses Artificial Intelligence.

According to a report by Accenture, 85% of organizations have planned to adopt digital or AI technologies in their supply chains during the last year.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a non-human brain that gathers, analyzes, and interprets an amount of data that a human being would not be able to manage in an entire life. The food industry is getting involved in the AI technology rapidly. From selecting the products for the cooking process, from analyzing food’s freshness to detecting the cleaning level of the cooking space. Artificial Intelligence brings a lot of benefits to this industry as well.

It can help to optimize operations, improve offerings, deliver a better customer experience and better products. That obviously will increase customers’ expectations for food to be always healthy and fresh even more. Besides that, the usage of Artificial Intelligence should stop the battle of finding the perfect mix of cost, taste, appearance and of course, healthiness of the food. That’s the main reason why food companies are investing a lot in safety and quality controls, as well as in storage, distribution, raw materials and ingredients.

Current applications of AI in the food service sector appear to fall into four major categories:

• Chatbots and Apps – Restaurants are using virtual assistants to respond to customer inquiries and to process and customize customer orders.
• Robots – Restaurants are using AI-driven robots to increase the capacity and speed of food preparation and delivery.
• Recommendation engines – Developers are designing applications which use AI to help consumers choose meals based on their eating preferences.
• Kiosks – Restaurants are integrating AI-driven Kiosks to reduce customer waiting time and enhance the customer ordering experience.

In this digitally challenged era, let's use them wisely and create awareness to reduce the plastic waste and hazard in delivery meals.