Hotel giant Intercontinental Hotels Groups (IHG) has planned to start using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in management of their hotels, through partnering with anti-food waste leader Winnow Solutions. It is expected that food waste can be reduced by as much as 30% by the implementation of this technology. AI is useful since it provides a higher level of accuracy of transaction than manual entry, saves time on data entry and reduces operational friction involved in staff training.
Food wastage data can be collected from kitchens by connecting a kitchen’s bin and a tablet. Kitchen staff can identify what is being disposed of immediately. Winnow would identify food disposed automatically, without the need of manual input. Information gathered can then be used to adjust future buying decisions, menus and food preparation techniques.
This technology has currently been introduced in 7 IHG hotels in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa regions, with additional installations in 30 properties expected this July. IHG is exploring the rollout of this technology in the Greater China region and America.
Winnow has already been partnering with hotel and catering sector in China since 2015, and has established an office in Shanghai, China to better facilitate business collaborations in the Greater China Region. Hong Kong Jockey Club, Compass Group, Marriot and Shangri-La have already adopted Winnow’s technology for reducing unnecessary food waste.
Reduction in food waste not only saves the cost of food procurement and production, but also contributes towards attainment of sustainability goals. This initiative is compatible with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal number 12— responsible consumption and production. Chinese government’s progressive environmental agenda also notes that the hospitality sector should be aware of ‘scientific and civilized food consumption patterns’ to avoid wastage problems.
IHG is no stranger to embedding of AI into its operations. Earlier, IHG has used AI in its recruitment model, which facilitates more accurate assessment of potential candidates and helps find the best fit for each recruitment position, besides reducing time and monetary cost of management of human resources.
IHG has also partnered with Baidu in the Greater China region for launching smart rooms. Voice-control technology has been introduced to deliver a more interactive experience to customers. For instance guests can use speech for informing the customer service of their needs.
Original articles:
https://www.hotelmanagement.net/tech/ihg-launches-ai-rooms-greater-china
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/26/how-smart-technology-is-helping-to-solve-a-990-billion-problem.html
