French cosmetics company L'Oreal has used artificial intelligence to identify molecules in its skin care products that can be repurposed for use in shampoos, and can now create products four times faster than before, a senior executive told Reuters.
Consumer goods companies including Nestle, owner of the Nescafe brand, Haleon, maker of Sensodin toothpaste, and Mondelez, maker of chocolate, are using artificial intelligence in product innovation, in some cases helping them test ingredients more quickly, devise recipes and address vulnerabilities in supply chains, executives said.
The push to integrate artificial intelligence into product development comes at a time when consumer goods companies are under pressure to innovate faster and reduce costs, due to changes in consumer tastes.
L'Oreal, which began using artificial intelligence in its laboratories four years ago, has identified new molecules for cosmetic products by predicting the effect they will have on skin and hair, said Fabrice Megarban, president of the company's consumer products division.
A recent innovation by L'Oreal was the repurposing of molecules used in skin care products for a shampoo that uses collagen to give hair volume and fullness, Megarban said.
"You can really go much faster by imagining... new combinations of molecules and new uses of molecules," Megarban said at the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit in Vienna in late June.
L'Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus launched a "beauty incentive plan" last year to spur innovation, after L'Oreal saw its slowest sales growth in years.
Artificial intelligence shortens product development
Product innovation driven by humans and aided by artificial intelligence represents a "game-changer" for chocolate maker Mondelez, Filippo Catalano, chief information technology and digital officer, told Reuters.
The technology has helped the owner of Cadbury and Toblerone brands speed up processes and reinvent recipes. The company said the AI can create recipes, including "unconventional" ideas, which are then evaluated by a human expert.
"You can optimize the way you develop your recipes," Catalano said, pointing to the possibility of reducing single-source dependency in supply chains and the ability to adapt formulas to changing consumer tastes.
Mondelez’s AI tool reduces the number of samples typically created during innovation, he said. The tool helped develop gluten-free Golden Oreo cookies and a refreshed recipe for Chips Ahoy cookies, the company said. In the cookie category, 60 percent of recipes produced using its AI tool performed better in areas such as nutritional value, sustainability and cost.
"AI capabilities speed up things you could already do, but they reduce the time from months to weeks or from years to months," Catalano said.
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