Webinar: How AI is Helping Food Suppliers Improve Operational Efficiency & Customer Service

Summary

In this webinar, Fres CEO James Andronis discusses the transformative impact of AI on the food supply industry, focusing on operational efficiency and customer service. The session introduces Fres's new automated order entry tool, designed to streamline repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and save time. The tool handles orders from various channels, including email, voicemail, and WhatsApp, showcasing its flexibility and potential to revolutionize the industry. The webinar also addresses AI's future in predictive analytics, data analysis, and inventory management, promising further advancements for businesses.

Takeaways

• 😀 AI, or artificial intelligence, refers to computers and machines performing tasks typically associated with the human mind, such as chatbots, voice assistants, and personalized recommendations.
• 📈 The accessibility and affordability of AI technology have significantly increased in the past year, making it more widely available to businesses beyond just large tech companies.
• 🛒 AI is particularly beneficial for the food industry by automating repetitive tasks, allowing businesses to focus on higher-value activities like relationship building and improving operational efficiency.
• 🤖 AI is well-suited for handling routine, mundane tasks that are difficult to staff for, such as night shift data entry, thereby improving the quality of life for workers.
• 📊 AI is already being used in the food industry for tasks like automating order entry from various communication channels, scanning line items, delivery routing, and enhancing customer experiences through personalization.
• 💡 When considering AI for business, it's important to evaluate if it can replace undesirable tasks, reduce costs, and handle edge cases effectively, while also considering data security and provider support.
• 📝 Fresho's new AI tool automates order entry, converting customer orders from various sources into sales orders, saving time and reducing errors associated with manual data entry.
• 🔍 The AI tool is designed to learn and adapt, with a human oversight element to ensure quality control and accuracy, which is crucial given the diverse ordering formats in the food industry.
• 🌐 Fresho AI is a standalone product that can integrate with various ERP systems, not just Fresho, making it a flexible solution for businesses of different sizes and operational structures.
• 🔮 Looking ahead, AI has the potential to revolutionize the food industry further by enabling predictive analytics, real-time data analysis for business decision-making, and improving inventory management through pre-ordering.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the webinar?

The main focus of the webinar is to discuss how AI is helping food suppliers improve operational efficiency and customer service.

Who are the key speakers in the webinar?

The key speakers in the webinar are Audrey from the marketing team at Fres and James Andronis, CEO of Fres.

What is the background of James Andronis before becoming CEO of Fres?

Before becoming CEO of Fres, James Andronis was a food supplier for about 20 years.

What does AI stand for and what does it involve?

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, which refers to computers and machines performing functions typically associated with the human mind.

How has AI become more accessible recently?

AI has become more accessible due to a decrease in the cost of running AI-powered tools, making it more affordable and widely available to businesses beyond just large tech companies.

What are some examples of AI in everyday life mentioned in the webinar?

Examples of AI in everyday life mentioned include chatbots like Chat GPT, Siri, and Amazon's Alexa, as well as personalized recommendations on platforms like Spotify and Netflix.

How does AI benefit the food industry?

AI benefits the food industry by automating repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing businesses to focus on higher-value activities and improving the quality of life for workers.

What are some ways AI is being used by food suppliers to improve customer service and operational efficiency?

AI is being used in the food industry for automating order entry, scanning line items for purchase, optimizing delivery routes, and enhancing customer experience through personalized product recommendations.

What factors should businesses consider when adopting AI?

Businesses should consider whether AI can replace unwanted tasks, its cost-effectiveness, setup requirements, data security policies, and the ability to handle edge cases.

What is an 'edge case' in the context of software development?

An 'edge case' in software development refers to a problem or situation that falls outside of normal procedures, essentially testing how software behaves under unexpected or rare conditions.

How does Fres's new AI tool handle different types of customer orders?

Fres's new AI tool automates order entry by capturing orders from various sources like email, voicemail, text message, and WhatsApp, and converting them into sales orders, with a human oversight element for quality control and continuous learning.

What are some examples of edge cases AI might encounter in the ordering process?

Examples of edge cases include orders with unclear product names, missing venue information, missing delivery dates, and cancellations or changes to existing orders.

How does the AI tool handle voicemail orders?

The AI tool listens to voicemails, translates them into text, and turns them into sales orders, handling even complex accents and non-standard language use.

What is the current capability of the AI tool in handling orders with images?

The AI tool currently does not read images to an acceptable accuracy level, and handling images is a feature planned for future development.

Can the AI tool be used as a standalone product or does it require integration with Fres's ecosystem?

Fres's AI tool is a standalone product and does not require integration with Fres's ecosystem, though it can be used in conjunction with Fres's system for a seamless workflow.

What is the potential future of AI in the food industry according to the webinar?

The potential future of AI in the food industry includes predictive analytics for demand forecasting, data analysis for business improvements, and inventory management with pre-ordering capabilities.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Introduction to AI in the Food Industry

Audrey from the marketing team at Fres introduces the webinar, which focuses on AI's role in enhancing operational efficiency and customer service in the food supply industry. James Andronis, CEO of Fres and a former food supplier, joins the discussion. They highlight the growing accessibility and importance of AI, mentioning common AI applications like chatbots and personalized recommendations. James explains AI's potential to automate mundane tasks, allowing for more time on value-added activities, and emphasizes the current limitations of AI in complex tasks requiring human behavior.

05:00

📈 AI Applications in the Food Industry

The discussion moves to how AI is already being applied in the food industry, including automating order entries from various communication channels, scanning line items for purchase, optimizing delivery routes, and enhancing customer experiences through personalized product recommendations. James stresses the importance of considering whether AI can replace undesirable tasks, its cost-effectiveness, setup requirements, data security, and ability to handle edge cases when adopting AI in business.

10:02

🛠️ Demonstrating Fres's AI-Powered Order Entry Tool

James introduces Fres's new AI tool designed to automate manual order entry, reducing time and errors associated with data entry. The tool processes orders from emails, voicemails, text messages, and WhatsApp, converting them into sales orders. A human oversight element is included for quality control and continuous learning. The AI's performance is quantified, indicating an average time saving per order, highlighting its suitability for repetitive tasks and its impact on efficiency and error reduction.

15:03

🚀 Launch and Features of Fres's AI Tool

The webinar covers the launch of Fres's AI tool, which is currently being rolled out and available for interested parties. The tool's pricing is presented as a cost-effective alternative to manual order processing. It offers flexibility in operation, allowing it to work during specific hours or for certain customer groups. The AI can be programmed to handle various ordering channels and can be linked with existing ERP systems. The tool is designed to be user-friendly, with free training and setup support provided by Fres.

20:03

💬 Addressing Queries and Future AI Prospects

The session concludes with a Q&A segment where various questions are addressed, such as the AI tool's ability to handle non-English speakers, its flexibility in programming for specific customer groups, and its approach to handling orders with photos or prices specified by customers. James also shares his vision for future AI applications in the industry, including predictive analytics, data analysis for business improvements, and inventory management. The webinar ends with an invitation for further inquiries and a promise to send a recording of the session.

Keywords

💡AI

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the context of the video, AI is being utilized to enhance operational efficiency and customer service in the food supply industry. It is used for automating tasks such as order entry, delivery routing, and personalized customer recommendations, showcasing its integration into everyday business processes.

💡Operational Efficiency

Operational efficiency pertains to the optimization of business processes to reduce waste and increase productivity. The video discusses how AI can improve operational efficiency in food suppliers by automating repetitive and mundane tasks, thereby allowing human employees to focus on more value-added activities. This is exemplified by the AI's ability to handle order entry, which saves time and reduces errors.

💡Customer Service

Customer service involves the interactions between a company and its customers, aiming to assist and provide information to customers, handling complaints, and generally providing a positive customer experience. The video highlights AI's role in enhancing customer service through personalized product recommendations based on order history and preferences, which can lead to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

💡Automated Order Entry

Automated order entry is a process where orders received through various channels such as email, voice message, or text message are automatically converted into sales orders without manual data entry. The video introduces Fresho's new AI tool that performs this function, saving time and reducing errors in the order processing stage, which is crucial for the food suppliers' daily operations.

💡Data Security

Data security involves the protection of data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. It is a critical consideration when adopting AI tools, as businesses handle sensitive customer and transactional information. The video mentions the importance of providers having a robust data security policy, ensuring that the AI systems in place are safeguarding the information they process.

💡Edge Cases

Edge cases in software development refer to situations that fall outside of normal operating procedures or conditions. In the video, edge cases are mentioned in relation to the AI's ability to handle unusual or unexpected customer order scenarios, such as orders with missing information or incorrect product names. The AI tool is designed to learn from these edge cases to improve its accuracy over time.

💡Chat GPT

Chat GPT is an example of AI technology that generates human-like text based on the input it receives. While not directly related to the food supply industry, it is mentioned in the video to illustrate the prevalence of AI in everyday life and its potential applications in various fields, including customer service and communication.

💡Voicemail Translation

Voicemail translation is the AI's capability to convert voice messages into written text, which is then used to process orders. The video demonstrates this feature, showing how the AI tool can handle voicemails from customers, translate them into text, and accurately create sales orders, thus automating a traditionally manual and time-consuming task.

💡Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics uses various statistical algorithms and data to identify patterns and predict future outcomes. In the video, it is suggested that AI could be used for predictive analytics in the food industry to forecast demand based on historical sales data and other factors, which could help suppliers manage inventory and meet customer needs more effectively.

💡Inventory Management

Inventory management involves the oversight and control of the inventory levels of a business. The video suggests that AI could be applied to this area to optimize inventory levels and pre-ordering, potentially reducing waste and ensuring that suppliers have the right products in stock when needed, which is a critical aspect of efficient food supply operations.

Highlights

Introduction to the webinar on AI's role in improving operational efficiency and customer service for food suppliers.

James Andronis, CEO of Fres, shares his 20 years of experience as a food supplier and insights on AI.

AI's definition and its prevalence in everyday digital products like chatbots and recommendation algorithms.

The recent shift in AI technology's accessibility, making it more affordable and widespread.

AI's potential to automate repetitive tasks, allowing for increased focus on higher-value business activities.

Examples of AI in the food industry, including order automation and personalized customer experiences.

Considerations for businesses looking to adopt AI, such as cost, setup, and data security.

The concept of 'edge cases' in software development and their relevance to AI in handling unique customer orders.

Demonstration of Fres's new automated order entry tool, showcasing its ability to handle various order formats.

How the AI tool learns and improves over time with human oversight and feedback.

The benefits of AI in reducing manual data entry time and errors in the order process.

Fres's AI tool's flexibility to work with different customer groups and order channels.

The future possibilities of AI in the food industry, such as predictive analytics and inventory management.

The AI tool's ability to handle accents and the potential for multi-language support in the future.

Information on the AI tool's pricing and how it compares to manual order processing costs.

The AI tool's availability and the process for businesses interested in adopting it.

Final Q&A session addressing questions about the AI tool's capabilities and integration with existing systems.

Transcripts

hi everyone thank you so much for

joining us today uh today's webinar

covers how AI is helping Food suppliers

improve operational efficiency and

customer service um just by way of

introduction my name is Audrey I'm part

of the marketing team at fres and today

joining us we have James andronis who's

CEO of fres and before starting for a

show he was a food supplier for about 20

years he everyone it's great to be

here um just as a few people uh trickle

through uh today we'll cover what's

happening with AI in the industry um if

you're thinking about AI for your

business what you should consider and

really exciting we'll also cover

fresher's new automated order entry tool

um we've also got a Q&A session after

this so if you look at the bottom right

of your screen I believe there is a

question tab uh please submit questions

anytime during the webinar um they are

Anonymous so please don't be shy um and

if we don't get around to all of them at

the end of today's session we'll be able

to answer them after this um it's also

being recorded so we can share a

recording of this session with you

afterwards uh cool there's a lot of

people that has joined so uh let's get

started um so first off James what does

AI mean in the first place okay so in

simple terms AI or artificial

intelligence really refers to computers

and machines performing functions that

we normally associate with the human

mind so without knowing it we're all

exposed to AI regularly in our everyday

lives I'd say most people here would

have heard of chat J GPT or uh Siri or

Amazon's

Alexa you might even have received a

recommended uh playlist on Spotify or or

movie suggestion on Netflix so each of

those digital products are using a form

of AI to optimize the customer

experience without even um the customer

knowing right when you think about it

I've probably integrated AI into my

everyday life so much and without even

knowing it's amazing um why has it all

of a sudden become so present or

important for us right now yeah it's a

good question Audrey um I think what's

happened is there's been a really big

shift in the accessibility of of AI so

until recently AI powered tools were

really only available to the big tech

companies because they were the only

ones that could afford to run the

hardware and the software

teams required for these big AI systems

but in the past 12 months AI

Technology's reached an inflection point

where it's become so much cheaper to run

and therefore more widely accessible and

now uh you know we're seeing anyone can

log into chat GPT and use it to help r

emails as an example uh lawyers are even

using it to write documents and

contracts that's a pretty scary thought

uh and businesses can use it to automate

their their customer orders as well so

it's it's really progressed a lot and

become a lot more available and now that

it has become a lot more accessible um

the people who adopt AI early like with

any technology are getting an immediate

Edge or or leg up against their

competitors in terms of efficiencies

speed margin

and so for us or the fresh food industry

in particular what does AI mean uh well

firstly having been a supplier

previously I never thought I'd be

talking about uh AI in our industry in

the food industry it's quite incredible

how quickly it's evolved uh so I guess

AI is really about using technology to

help do the jobs that you don't want to

do and that means Prov you know making

more time for you to spend on things in

your business that you want to be doing

or you should be doing so from a

business perspective imagine having more

time to build relationships with uh key

accounts and customers instead of doing

routine admin tasks and from a personal

perspective it means more time at home

and and with your family and for

yourself so right now ai isn't going to

solve problems that require complex

human behavior such as account

management or sales uh but it is ideal

for repetive itive mundane tasks

particularly those that are hard to

recruit for or hard to retain staff for

um things like night shift data entry a

really good example of where AI can have

a big impact in the industry right when

you put it that way there's so many ways

that AI could help improve quality of

life uh both at work and personally as

well um what are you aware of at the

moment that's happening in the industry

how are Food suppliers already using AI

to improve customer service

or their operational efficiency yeah

we're already seeing AI being used in a

growing number of areas and across a

number of tasks in the industry uh

things like the automation of of

entering orders that come via email

voice message text message even WhatsApp

um and we we'll demo this in in a minute

um to to show everyone what we're

talking about uh also seeing it with um

automatic scanning of line items for

your supply purchases so

um I guess it's another area that it's

being used um uh to to scan that data

and to to bring that into into systems

and then there's delivery routing

systems I'm sure there's some people on

on the call uh today that that are using

delivery routing systems a number of

those are AI powered and we're also

starting to see it to enhance customer

uh experience which is a bit like that

NE Netflix and Spotify example I spoke

of earlier um things like offering

personalized uh more more enjoyable

experiences for for your customers by

recommending products based on order

history or or their preferences all the

time of year and also automating other

repetitive uh tasks which can lead to

quicker deliveries and improved customer

satisfaction so we're seeing it really

across the board now right you can see

how AI would very quickly become an

indispensable tool for Food suppliers um

for those that want to be an early

adopter or think about AI eventually for

business uh what do they need to

consider yeah it's a great question um

some some definite things to consider

would and some questions to ask would be

things like you know does it achieve its

purpose of replacing the jobs that

people don't want to do so that your

team can can focus on on other areas

that deliver more value for your

business is it significantly lower cost

than than doing those tasks manually um

what does the setup look like and is is

your time required because these these

AI systems need

training um what's the providers

approach to to data security we know

that information privacy and data

breaches are really serious concerns in

this day and age for businesses so

providers should have a policy around

around

security uh and it's always important to

understand if the software can handle

edge cases uh that will likely arise

based on customer behavior and we're in

the food industry so there's there's a

whole range of customer behavior and and

definite edge cases that need to be be

considered I actually didn't know what

edge cases meant until recently for

those who don't know what does that mean

yep so in in the software development

industry an edge case is is a problem or

a situation that falls outside of normal

procedures so it's essentially when you

test for an edge case you're really

checking to see how the software behaves

under an unexpected or rare condition

that makes sense so uh what are some of

the scenarios that AI might have to deal

with just for let's say the ordering

process yeah I mean as everyone would

know on this call can be pretty complex

when you when you think about it in

terms of uh of orders and and I'm sure

everyone's experienced the frustrations

with with customer orders at some stage

um I guess some some examples of what AI

has to deal with you know a chef who

calls a product by a different name uh

or when a chef doesn't include their

venue name in a message that's always a

beauty um to try and understand where

they're from or figure out where they're

from also when there's no date on on an

order uh does the AI put the next

delivery date or or something else

depending on the rule that's created uh

also I guess uh when a customer places

an email order a good example would be

you know if they've got 20 products in

the order and then an hour later they

forward the same email asking for one of

those products to be cancelled you how

would the AI deal with that that

scenario so these are just some of the

the edge cases that the AI needs to deal

with with uh customer

orders right you can see how knowing I

guess the nuances and common issues and

ins and outs of daily processes plays a

big role because I guess the ai ai would

have to be able to identify edge cases

in the first place before knowing how to

effectively handle them I guess yeah

that's right um all right how about we

see fresher's new AI tool and how it

works but uh F can you please tell us a

little bit about it sure so in in simp

simple terms fresho new AI tool

automates one of the most timec

consuming processes and and error prone

tasks in uh in food businesses and

that's manual um order entry what it

does is it receives and captures uh your

customer orders that come in via email

or voicemail text message WhatsApp and

turns them into sales orders and this

this just eliminates the completely

eliminates the manual input part of the

process so you don't have um to have

someone entering those orders in and

there's there's no dealing with last

minute sick days or or annual leave you

know the AI just doesn't take time off

and doesn't get sick it just keeps going

all the time so uh we've got great data

on on performance uh today and and so we

can we can put some numbers on it you

know at the moment you see on average it

saves about three minutes per order in

terms of data entry so if we multiply

that out by you know as an example 500

orders a week or however many orders

people might do that's a lot of hours

saved um when you tally that up and

that's the type

of um task that is is ideal for for for

AI because it's so

repetitive it also reduces errors

because um you know it doesn't forget or

get get tired and and make mistakes it's

always on a consistent level so um once

it's been taught it it doesn't make the

same error again which is um which is

which is really I guess the difference

between um the human manual way of doing

things so yeah I mean the food in

industry is really different to other

Industries so there's so many variations

with ordering and there isn't a standard

format with how orders come in as as we

all know so to overcome this we're

adding a a human oversight element to

the AI and that's that's mainly for for

quality control um and to teach it um as

it goes so this means that you know

whilst you're sleeping you've got the

confidence and peace of mind knowing

that the uh the accuracy is as high as

possible with the with the orders that

are coming through so we've got someone

from our team that reviews the AI output

um and make sure that that its accuracy

is correct and he's teaching it along

the way um so also means that there's no

commitment from your side um to train

the AI which is a really really big

piece of work so we do that we do that

for you so probably at this point best

if we jump in and uh and have a look

under the hood and show every on how it

works so uh people will be familiar with

fresho this is uh a new screen and you

can see it's got a source column here

we've got Marketplace orders and we've

got AI assisted order entry um orders

that have come in here uh we'll show you

this is sort of the inbox that we call

it magic type of inbox um and these are

the orders that are coming through and

they've got a status on them in terms of

how successful they've been read by the

AI we'll go into a few examples and and

and have a good look at what it does um

under the hood so here we've gone in

we've seen the first order that's come

in it's a PO um from taste bud Delights

it's all the products down here the AI

on the right hand side here has picked

up the correct customer all the correct

details dates all the correct products

and quantities so that's 100% accurate

and that just goes straight through next

order that's come through again just an

example we've got a PO um it's got

salmon fillets written down here the AI

has picked up as a first first go at it

salmon Stakes but it's highlighted that

it's not it's not sure that whether

that's right or or not so it's telling

us that that needs to be uh reviewed we

can come in and say no it's not salmon

Stakes so we're going to select salmon

fillets when we're teaching it it then

asks us do you want to create a rule to

always associate salmon Stakes with

salmon fillets we can say yes across the

board or we can say only for this

customer or we can say no whatever we

choose there next time this happens the

AI will has automatically leared that

and it won't make that that mistake

again so we'll just click yes for now

and that's successfully made that rule

everything else was correct so we can

submit and move on to the the next order

this one's slightly different not a PO

it's a uh it's an email that's come

through free text email um you can see

they didn't say where they're from uh

the venue in the email and the body of

the email here but the AI is picked up

from the uh email address uh the the

customer that it belongs to it's got all

the correct products and quantities so

that's that's 100% accurate

there uh this is an example of one that

is not an order so again AI can pick

that up it hasn't put any products in

and it's recommended that this is marked

as no order so it would go back into the

inbox for um you or your admin team to

deal with customers asking what time is

the earliest they can get a delivery on

Friday go to the next one again another

free text order um you can see here it's

picked it up all 100% correct so that's

that's a great result and then this

where it gets a little bit interesting

this is voicemail it's quite amazing uh

it listens to the voicemail translates

it into free text as you can see on the

left hand side here and turns it into a

sales order um in this example it's got

everything correct but uh the venue has

ordered something a product that isn't

um in our product range uh or or isn't

something that you've sold before so

there's no history of it um what what

that'll do then it's it's had a go at it

and it said rusted potatoes it said it's

suggested is that Desiree potatoes we're

going to say no it's not and then what

it will do we'll make that into a

miscellaneous item uh and it'll put a

note underneath for your Pickers or for

for someone in admin to to change it or

to decide what to do with it and it said

it'll say one box of rusted potatoes

which has been ordered so um again that

just that just got everything else 100%

accurate um but it's amazing that it

does the voicemail as well um into into

free

text then we'll come back to the the uh

the orders tab in in fresho and all of

those orders that have gone through the

AI would just be sitting in your um

magically sitting in your your orders

tab um as approved orders that have gone

through ready to be processed and picked

and packed for the day it's really as

simple as that uh quite amazing um how

efficient that it is amazing all right I

imagine some people might be wondering

about the launch of this AI Tool uh some

fresher customers are already using it

is that right uh yeah that's right um

we've ' got quite a few uh customers

already using it um so far it's it's

been amazing some of the results

obviously there's a learning process

with the AI but um it doesn't take very

long at all all all of the customers

that are using it are loving it U the

feedback that they're giving is enabling

us to um to to build it out further and

to keep improving it we've got a whole

development team um focused on this in

Australia um locally based and the

team's built this out and they'll

continue to build this out um over the

years to come so this is something that

we've invested heavily in and we'll

continue to do that um fantastic and for

those who are interested what else is

there to know well I think we we spoke

about pricing a little bit um uh before

as a consideration so uh really what it

means is with with the automation that

you get here and and the investment that

that we've made as well it it means that

it's cheaper than the manual alternative

so that's that's something to to to

really consider um from the setup

perspective

there there's free training and then we

do all the work um with you to agree on

the on the edge cases but then we train

the system so um it's it's quite a it's

quite a simple process to get it up and

running there's also a flexible approach

the AI can work in in shifts if you just

say you know we just want the AI on

between 8:00 P.M and 3:00 a.m or

something like that then then that that

that can be arranged um or maybe just on

the on the week weekends or even just

for certain uh groups of customers you

might want to start um it's really

flexible and it can it can be applied in

that instance uh it's a new technology

so we understand that that support's

necessary and uh we provide that awesome

all right um so we've got a bit of time

to go through some questions uh there's

already a few that have come through so

first off we have Dave when is this

rolling out for everybody good question

Dave uh we're starting to roll this out

now so this is um this is is available

if anyone's interested please reach out

contact us we can um we can talk to you

about it give you a demo and and talk

through how to get it up and running but

basically we're rolling this out as of

now fantastic and then Hayden's just

asking what about the customer not

speaking English clearly on the phone

it's a good question we've had quite a

bit of fun with this uh in in the office

and and some good laughs listening to

some of these examples but there there

is a way or or the AI can listen to more

than one Lang and translate it into

another

language you know AI is is really um

it's limited with its languages uh at

the moment so we haven't we haven't

released this feature but it's it's

something that's on the road map again

we don't see this very often I think

what we do see is um lots of examples of

really heavy accents um or um a bit of

mixed pigeon English and and the AI um

has been great at picking that up it's

quite incredible some of the some of the

accents that it's picked up um so you no

issue with with accents but language is

is probably an iteration that's St the

track um from Sarah can you program what

customers or emails will be picked up or

is it all or

nothing uh no that that's that's a great

question and that's part of the flexible

approach so you might have um just one

customer group that you might get 20 POS

from a night and you want to start with

that and see how it goes that's what we

can arrange and and that's um that's

what the AI can do we can just program

it to just work on those those specific

customers as a starting

point uh so for Matt um they've got a

few channels that customers order

through like the owner's phone email

fresher and a warehouse answering

machine so would this be a module that

we add on to capture all this or do we

redirect customers through

this yep so we we can handle all of that

um our implementation team um get

involved once once we go ahead uh and

we'll talk with you guys about how to

get that um all into one place we we've

set that up we've done that with some

suppliers that are um you know text

message going to multiple people in the

business from different customers uh

fresho um answering machines emails so

we it all gets collated into the AI tool

and pushed into the AI tool and then um

the output pops up magically in fresh as

a as a sales order so yes we can handle

that great and from Melissa do we need

to link a specific orders email address

to freser and how does it link

voicemail the um the current process

around that is that the AI will will

will process all emails that come into a

dedicated fresho AI inbox um the orders

can get into that inbox in many ways um

and auto forward our team or um in

conjunction with with the suppliers team

uh set up um set this up from the from

the suppliers inbox and it can include

uh voicemails that come through as well

you can set that up now for voicemails

to come through to to as an email so um

that they'll all get collated and as I

said earlier you can select only certain

uh customer types or or certain customer

groups if you want to start with that as

well so it's quite flexible with how it

works and from Lanna how does the AI

cope with a photo of an order written on

an order

pad it's a good question as well we

don't see a lot of that um at the moment

we've only seen that in in a few

instances uh the AI currently doesn't

read images um to to an accuracy level

that we'd be happy with so it's one of

the more difficult uh things to

interpret this is definitely on the list

uh and we're aiming to to be able to do

this down the track for sure cool and

then from Dave if customer sends through

a PO with prices does it pick up those

prices and update or use the pric prices

set in fresher already it's a good

question uh probably saw that in the uh

in in the demo there uh so with the

current iteration fresho is the is the

source of Truth in terms of the pricing

that are there and the Assumption there

is that that suppliers decide what they

charge their customers not not the other

way around what comes true on a on a PO

or an or a free text email obviously

this this some exceptions to this and

it's something that we're we're we're

working on and and looking at because

there are edge cases around this we we

realize that there are some suppliers

with large groups that might might

dictate prices as as an example and that

they just want to want to go ahead with

whatever price is on the PO so we're

working through that now and um and

taking that into consideration for uh

for future uh

development okay and from Sophie is fres

AI a standalone product or part of the

whole fres eco system uh fresho AI is is

a standalone product outside of of

fresho so it can you don't need to be

using fres o uh to be using fresh o AI

um but we've got you know plenty of

supplies that use fresho and then it's

just a Bolton attachment to that and the

orders flow through to Fresh o um but

we've also got other suppliers that use

their Erp system and fresh o Ai and it

just just um converts the orders into

sales sales orders into their their pay

system um that's all the questions so

far I guess one last one uh James what

about the future where do you see AI

potentially taking

us I think uh the mind boggles with what

AI could be used for in our industry in

the future um in the short term it's

really about focusing on those

repetitive tasks that um that that we're

talking about like the order entry but

it could certainly move to more complex

tasks in the future things like

Predictive Analytics that can can

forecast demand from your customers uh

based on historical sales and and um and

different factors like weather and

things like that um another one could be

data analysis uh and real time

information about certain actions that

you could take to improve margins in

your business so things like you know

picking rates and error rates or or not

available items um delivery rates diot

margins uh you know on different

products it could aler send alerts and

and and advise what you need to do in

those instances based on customer

purchasing behavior um and another area

where AIS uh could be really well suited

for is is Inventory management and

pre-ordering of your your purchases so

um that's that's something that we think

uh that will be quite effective with

AI awesome all right um oh we've got one

last another question we actually got

two more coming through Melissa when

will pricing be

available uh we can pricing available

now we we can talk to to you about that

on an individual basis if you contact

us cool and then there's Craig as well

also asking does the cost of this work

for a smaller business with 50 to 100

orders per week absolutely this tools

designed for every business in the food

industry awesome thanks um I'm sure

there's going to be a lot more questions

so if you have any or you are interested

please just email us at hellofresh.com

um

that's it thank you so much for joining

us today um it's been great to have you

and we'll send a recording of This

afterwards thanks everyone thank you bye