In short
- Start with one job you now retype or sort out by hand, such as digitising recipes.
- Let AI make suggestions and let a person check them, especially quantities and allergens.
- Savour reads your recipes itself first and only calls in AI when in doubt. Whatever is not certain, Savour asks you.
What AI can already do in the kitchen
Most kitchen work is craft that no computer takes over. But around that craft there is a lot of paperwork. That is where AI is good: reading and organising text, even when it is messy.
- Digitising recipes: turning a handwritten note, a photo or a Word file into a clean recipe.
- Reading invoices and price lists: pulling the price per product from a delivery note or invoice.
- Translating: a menu or explanation for guests in another language, which you then check yourself.
- Planning: estimating what you need based on your own sales of previous weeks.
What AI should not do
AI is good at text that sounds right. That is exactly the danger. An AI that guesses "250 grams" on an unreadable note gives you a recipe that looks neat but is wrong. And as a business you are responsible for allergens yourself: the information you give guests must be correct (EU Regulation 1169/2011).
- Retyping and organising
- Making suggestions
- Looking up what is already known
- Calculating with your figures
- Quantities that cannot be read
- Doubt about allergens
- What goes on the menu
- What goes to the guest
How to bring in AI, step by step
You do not have to do everything at once. Pick one job, see what it brings, then move on.
- Pick one annoying jobSomething you do by hand that keeps coming back, such as retyping recipes or keeping prices up to date.
- Keep your data in one placeAI works best with data that is already tidy. Recipes in one system are the basis for cost price, allergens and planning.
- Always have someone checkThink of AI as a commis who is fast but does not know everything yet: it does the prep, the chef approves.
- Mind privacyDo not put guest or staff data into a free chat program. Choose software that says what happens to your data.
- See what it brings youKeep track of how much time you save. If it brings nothing, stop.
The rules
Since 1 August 2024 the AI Act (EU 2024/1689) applies in the European Union. For most kitchen uses, such as reading recipes or sorting prices, it is mainly about transparency: know when you are working with AI and make sure a person checks where it matters.
How Savour uses AI
Savour is built on one rule: a recipe is exactly as the cook meant it. That is why Savour uses AI as the last step, not the first.
- Importing goes through the Savour reader first: it reads Word, PDF and text itself, without AI.
- Only when the reader is in doubt, such as with a handwritten note or a photo, does AI help. That is part of Savour Pro, up to 150 times a month.
- The AI may never invent a quantity, ingredient or step. Whatever is not certain is shown to you to check.
- Savour recognises the allergens from the Savour list of known ingredients. When in doubt, it asks you.
Where we are heading: purchasing with packages and prices
The next step is the food cost calculator. For that, Savour needs to know what you really pay. And that depends on how you buy: per box, per crate or per piece. So one ingredient can have several packages, each with its own price. Savour works that back to the price per piece, gram or litre, so your recipe calculates with the right price.
| Avocado (example) | Contents | Price | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | 24 pieces | € 28.80 | € 1.20 |
| Crate | 6 pieces | € 7.80 | € 1.30 |
| Single | 1 piece | € 1.45 | € 1.45 |
And that is where AI helps again
Retyping a price list or invoice is exactly the kind of work AI is good at. The plan: you load your supplier’s price list or take a photo of an invoice, Savour reads the products, packages and prices, and you confirm which belongs to which ingredient. When a price changes, you immediately see which dish becomes more expensive. Here too: Savour suggests, you decide.
We are building this now, without a date. What else is planned is on Coming soon.
Why AI should never invent your recipeHow the Savour reader and the AI work together, and why doubt stays visible.→The purchasing features in this article are plans. If anything changes, we will update it here.