Iain Smith presented at Food Matters 2018 exploring how technology and innovation are revolutionising the future of the food and drink experience. His talk focused on growth in four areas – Automation, Sustainability, Personalisation and Experience design.

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Iain Smith – Principal Engineer, Cambridge Consultants
Food Matters Live
FORECASTING THE EMERGING TRENDS AND
TECHNOLOGIES SHAPING THE INDUSTRY

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We see key trends through research, press and what our clients ask for – the top 4:
Sustainability
Personalisation
Automation
Experience

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Iain Smith
- Plan and run front end innovation projects
- Facilitator, Principle Design Engineer
- 15 years experience in technology development

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Outsource technology development company
We are 800 Scientists, engineers and designers working across a range of industries

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CONNECTIVITY DIGITAL ELECTRONICS
DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING
APPLICATION &
EMBEDDED SOFTWARE
USER INTERFACES
DATA SCIENCE
& BIG DATA
BIG SYSTEMS AI / MACHINE LEARNING FLUIDICS DIGITAL SERVICES SENSORS ULTRA LOW POWER
MECHANICAL INDUSTRIAL DESIGN HUMAN FACTORS REGULATORY SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
DESIGN FOR HIGH-VOLUME
MANUFACTURE
TRADITIONAL AREAS OF FOCUS IN FOOD AND BEVERAGE

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CONNECTIVITY DIGITAL ELECTRONICS
DIGITAL SIGNAL
PROCESSING
APPLICATION &
EMBEDDED SOFTWARE
USER INTERFACES
DATA SCIENCE
& BIG DATA
BIG SYSTEMS AI / MACHINE LEARNING FLUIDICS DIGITAL SERVICES SENSORS ULTRA LOW POWER
MECHANICAL INDUSTRIAL DESIGN HUMAN FACTORS REGULATORY SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
DESIGN FOR HIGH-VOLUME
MANUFACTURE
GROWING AREAS OF WORK IN FOOD AND BEVERAGE IN LAST FEW YEARS

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Dispense and delivery – trends in our traditional food beverage space
Dosing non-spherical, non-
smooth solids, often
humidity sensitive
Micro
dosing
liquids
Inks, super
concentrates,
insulin
Dosing
liquids
Beer, coffee,
ice slurries
Dosing
powder
Dry powder
inhalers
Dosing free
flowing solids
Coffee beans
Sprays, mists,
atomising
Requirements
 Reliable dose every time
 Counter bridging / blocking
 Keep system cost low, minimise sensing
requirement
 Minimise consumable cost

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Our expertise is best applied in developing new technologies in the intersections between
formulation, packaging and devices

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We see key trends through research, press and what our clients ask for – the top 4:
Sustainability
Personalisation
Automation
Experience

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AUTOMATION

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 Automation and robotics are changing
rapidly – it’s an exciting time in the
industry
 Low cost sensors helping to reduce cost
of automation
 Automation is being deployed smartly
Automation in food and beverage – Key trends

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AI IN THE KITCHEN

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AI IN THE KITCHEN

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SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
 Container-sized modules can be deployed at
the source of the waste e.g. supermarkets to
eliminate food waste transport costs and can
be easily scaled to meet seasonal variations
 Insect larvae for animal feed – high protein
 An automation challenge
CLOSING THE LOOP ON FOOD WASTE

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Food delivery automation – ground and air
 Improving consumer experience via automation – minimise
time to consumer, enabling new business models in the
industry
 Delivery by drone – focus on low cost user targeting
 Automation in food delivery vehicles – focus on low cost
handling systems

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AUTOMATION: Summary
• Automation isn’t always the answer – be smart where it’s applied
• Key driver is less about saving money and more about automating jobs
there is no labour to do or no one wants to do.
• For companies that are willing to invest in development, new automation is
a year or two from market, it can be really disruptive and the prize is
massive.

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PERSONALISATION

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 Seamlessly connecting ecosystems of
technology to tailor experience to the
consumer – Smart home, phone and
beyond
 Further ‘quantified self’ data
 Physiological characterisation
Personalisation – Key trends
Nura headphones

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DNA
Blood
Microbiome
Users can know more about themselves than ever before! Home testing

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Digital ecosystems sharing data seamlessly

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 World’s first personalised smart blender
 Reach healthy living goals via app
 Works with user ingredient preferences
 Blender creates customised profile to support
immune system, boost energy etc
 Connects users to nutrition experts
 Coach users to a healthier lifestyle
Philips NutriU Blender – IFA 2018 launch

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF WINE

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MY BEER MY WAY

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PERSONALISATION: Summary
• Consumer desire for more
• More personal data available to tailor experience
• More willingness to provide data if the experience is right

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Technology-led
EXPERIENCE

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 This can be to both improve operational efficiency and enhance the consumer experience to add value beyond just the
product they have paid for
Increasingly we are working with clients to use technology to create new in store experiences

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 The accesso PrismSM device platform allows theme park visitors
to move seamlessly around the park maximising engagement with
no queueing
 Operating three radios across three processors and a touchscreen
required a closely coupled software development in order to meet
achieve reliable radio and battery performance
 Prism is waterproof and can withstand up to 5 atmospheres of
pressure (50m) and will operate for more than 250 consecutive
days on a single battery – a world-record lifespan for a battery
operated secure-element payment system with a touchscreen.
 16 months from sketch to 40,000 units
CONNECTED SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY
CLIENT: ACCESSO

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Enable:
Supermarket
guidance systems

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Enable: Self
serve bars

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Working in tea and coffee
Tetley 30%
 15 years of experience working with JDE on coffee
 No barista artisanal consumer experience for tea
 Opportunity to enhance brew also
 Challenged ourselves

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Next generation tea – Trend: Home Connoisseur
‘Works-like’ ‘Looks like’
 Tea has seen far less innovation
than coffee
 We investigated the science of
brewing
 With the insight we developed a
unique capsule system brewing
the highest quality tea every time
with a total cycle time of less than
2 minutes
 Experience is an important part of
tea, so personalisation and
seeing the brewing happen is a
key part of the design

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 Cocktails are an art and to get a great quality drink you really need multiple elements to come
together
– How the cocktail is made
– Quality of the ingredients
– Environment which its served in
– How the cocktail the is served
– Variety
 This means that its hard to design a dispensing system to dispense a “great” cocktail
Cocktail experience: What makes a good cocktail?

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 Self serve is becoming more and
more popular and many companies
are trying to create a cocktail
version but haven’t yet embodied
any of the experience.
 These systems only seems to
address one element of making a
“great” cocktail, which is the quality
of the ingredients
People are working on systems, but nothing standout yet
OPN SYSTEM
BARTESIAN
REMIX
SOMABAR
BIONIC BAR
TENDER ONE

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 As cocktails are difficult to get right we would like to develop a system which can guide users
through each step to create a “great” cocktail
 The system needs to be engaging, simple, provide variety and deliver great results
 An example would be to implement this system in a hotel lobby/3rd space or other communal
spaces
Opportunities in this space
In home
Communal
spaces
3rd space

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 One of the most popular cocktails is the mojito. Looking at the user journey we see the following:
Making a mojito
This is a time consuming process which involves finding the ingredient or object for the next stage,
accurately measuring the ingredients and cleaning tools during to be ready for the next user
Without guidance this will be overwhelming and frustrating for a user who isn’t used to this process

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 An interactive bar unit where users are guided through the
making process using information, lighting and visual cues
to inform the user of the next ingredient location or step
 Personalisation so users feel excited and engaged with
every drink whilst useful data capture is collected and
analysed by the supplier
 A refined process which works with multiple cocktails
meaning time and complexity is minimised to ensure
maximum enjoyment of the bar
What is our vision?

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Bar layout

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Benefit of the vision
There are multiple benefits with this vision:
– Keep the essence of the cocktails intact
– Able to broaden the understanding of the consumer’s
preferences
– Simple off the shelf technologies can bring the vision to life
BARMAN
EXPERIENCE
AUTO
DISPENSE

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Experiential sensing – capturing real-world data about consumer trials

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Key experience trends:
• Technology driving experience
• Easier to integrate
• Low cost sensors + smart algorithms + AI

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SUSTAINABILITY

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 Innovate with sustainability a core objective
from the start
 Small companies responding to consumer
desire for sustainable products upscaling
 Increased use of machine vision
 Innovate to provide positive sustainability
experience for consumers
Trends in:

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Sustainability Strategy – How does
Cambridge consultants fit in?
SUSTAINABILITY
STRATEGY
SET TARGETS TAKE ACTION
MONITOR &
REPORT
REPLAN

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We are innovation experts – we help clients create compelling new sustainable product
offerings, underpinned by the very latest technology
TAKE ACTION
IDENTIFY THE ACTION
REQUIRED TO INNOVATE AT
A PRODUCT LEVEL
MATCH EVOLVING CUSTOMER/ENVIRONMENTAL
ETC NEEDS WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES TO
GENERATE A PRODUCT INNOVATION ROADMAP
EVALUATE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES E.G. BIOPLASTICS,
PCR PLASTICS
CREATE REVOLUTIONARY PRODUCT/SERVICE
CONCEPTS THAT EXCITE CONSUMERS AND
DELIVER BUSINESS VALUE - DRIVEN BY
SUSTAINABILITY

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 The service gateway develops a deep data driven
understanding of the fabric of a home; matching how it
heats and cools to the needs and comfort of the
occupants:
 The deep behavioural insight of both home and occupants
are modelled mathematically so that they can be
harnessed to deliver comfort whilst minimising carbon.
Home Energy Management
CASE STUDY

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 Ocado’s ambition was to reduce carbon footprint in their
order fulfilment by developing a more efficient automated
grocery retail solution
 Existing communication technologies did not offer the real-
time control, scalability & flexibility Ocado required to meet
their efficiency goals
 CC created the world’s densest wireless network to
support 1000s robots moving in real-time
Innovative wireless technology delivering
step changes in logistics efficiency
CASE STUDY

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 BeeBee Wraps has developed a reusable beeswax food wrap that is a
sustainable alternative to single-use plastics
 Goal – to accelerate production consistent with the sustainability
principles that guide this fast-growing business
 Sustainability-led mechanical design and process improvement
expertise to build a unique, energy efficient production system that
improves the quality and consistency of the BeeBee Wraps product,
whilst radically speeding up production
 The new process enables one person to produce a day's worth of
material in just 15 minutes, around 30 times faster than the original
method
Cambridge Consultants catapults production of
reusable beeswax food wrap
CASE STUDY

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 An example of thinking about sustainability
differently at point of consumption (e.g. a café).
Creates an experience that is fun for the user and
incentivises them to continue using it.
 Problem: Final moment of truth with a brand is
surrounded by confusion and guilt – how can we
turn that into moment into a positive?
 Smart image recognition is used to identify the
waste material and guides the user to the correct
receptacle. Even crushed cups and packs.
 Consumers can be rewarded with loyalty points via
an app.
Smarter recycling through consumer
behaviour influence
CASE STUDY

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SUSTAINABILITY: Summary
Large growth in product innovation for sustainability

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Take away messages
1. Be smart about where to automate – huge gains for those willing to invest
2. Low cost sensors + Smart algorithms and AI are key in developing next
generation technology-led experiences
3. Technology can enable seamless friction free personalisation (if designed
robustly)
4. Target sustainability with technology innovation

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Sustainability
Personalisation
Automation
Experience

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