AOCS 2024

Mintel’s SVP, Data Science and Analytics, Ben Arnold will be presenting as part of the AI and Nutrition chaired by Fabiola Dionisi, PhD of Nestlé Research. This multi-part panel is on the technical program at the AOCS Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 30 in Montreal.

The AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo brings together thousands of chemists, engineers, technologists, and researchers focused on the science and technology of fats, oils, proteins, surfactants, and related materials. The 2024 theme, Beyond Chemistry: Solving Complex Problems Together, embraces the work of a diverse range of specialists who address global problems — and improve the lives of people around the world.

Among these complex problems is the question of AI and it’s use in the industry and world. Mintel’s session, “AI Applied to Product and Consumer Research: Empowering human expertise” will cover two applications of artificial intelligence and how it is being applied today in Market Research to help manufacturers drastically reduce time spent on top-of-funnel research activities during new product development. Both applications highlight how both good data and human expertise are still critical to our industry, but how AI can be an amazing catalyst for both.

The first will focus on consumer insights and demonstrate how closed-loop generative AI can be used to expedite, summarize and recommend answers, all while citing its work: allowing users to skip straight to what is important to them. The second application will focus on applying simple uses of AI to create a smarter way of querying and sorting a large database of new product launches; helping R&D teams to strengthen their confidence in early trends.