During an experiment conducted at the NRA Show 2025 in Chicago, a lecture accompanied by a tasting presented a curious test involving Artificial Intelligence (AI) and foodservice: a chef asked ChatGPT and Meta’s chatbot to share cake recipes and followed both to the letter.
The experience was reported by Julia Diaz, project consultant at Gouvêa Foodservice, during Connection Foodservice Day 2025, an event held on May 26 by Mercado&Consumo, Gouvêa Foodservice and Gouvêa Experience. The meeting was also attended by Cristina Souza, founder and CEO of Gouvêa Foodservice.
Julia said that when she tasted the cakes prepared with the recipes provided by the AIs, the results left something to be desired. “Guys, ChatGPT is a really bad chef,” she said.
According to her, the OpenAI chatbot’s recipe resulted in a dry and hard cake. Meta’s AI, on the other hand, performed a little better, although still far from ideal. “Meta was better, it already had a cake-like consistency, but even so, the product was too sweet and very basic. And then, when we tasted the chef’s recipe, it really caught our attention, it was much better. They had different products and ingredients, so the result stood out,” he said.
As a lesson from this gastronomic experience, Julia concluded that AI still makes a lot of mistakes when developing recipes. However, the technology can be used in other ways in foodservice.
“It is a very important tool for identifying market movements and trends, and if it is well fed with information and tested, it is even capable of evaluating the development of new concepts,” she explained.
Food business
On the eve of the NRA Show, Mercado&Consumo visited several operations in Chicago with a delegation from the Gouvêa Foodservice consultancy. One of the operations visited was The Fresh Market, a supermarket chain owned by Cencosud that has 143 units. Around 5% of the chain’s revenue comes from foodservice, with services and products such as ready-to-eat food, catering and delivery.
Cristina says that one of The Fresh Market’s innovations is the use of AI. When accessing the chain’s website, a window opens to present the day’s menu to the consumer and collect information about their preferences. “I think a very important point here for us is that the work done in terms of connecting with the customer is very relevant,” she added.
Lisano was also one of the operations visited by the delegation. Created by Brazilian Gabriel Fleury — who is also the owner of Deep Purple, a chain specializing in customizable açaí bowls — Lisano brought the concept of spritz, such as the Aperol Spritz and the Limoncello Spritz. “So, the concept is to be born with dissolution and to have a very, very strong initial body-to-body work”, added Cristina.
Image: Envato
*This text was translated by AI
