Japanese convenience stores are using AI to create unusual new snacks and desserts. Lawson will launch a pickle-flavoured lemon tart and a bread roll filled with red bean paste, margarine and yoghurt cream this month in Tokyo and nearby areas. The products were developed through AI brainstorming around the idea,’What on earth is this? But it’s delicious.
Rival chain FamilyMart used AI and sales data to develop a sweet potato canelé topped with caramel sauce, which will launch nationwide next week. AI was used mainly for ideas, while human specialists handled product development. After an earlier AI-created milk-creambiscuit sandwich proved successful, FamilyMart plans to develop more AI-inspired products.