Lotte Confectionery creates food-trend forecast software

Lotte Confectionery has developed software that predicts food trends based on artificial intelligence technology, the company said Wednesday.

The program, named LCIA, analyzes sales figures, weather, consumption patterns and data from social media to envision future food trends. Based on this analysis, LCIA will give recommendations for new product ideas.

The software’s algorithm for predicting successful products came from LCIA’s analysis of successful products in the past. LCIA is also capable of deep learning, which means that the more data it examines, the more precise its predictions become. It can also immediately analyze posts that are uploaded to social media.

“Market analysis in the past was based on personal assessments and limited information,” Lotte said in a statement. “LCIA will make the process more objective and scientific, with a wider scope of information.”

The company said it will apply LCIA not just for product development, but also use it to develop strategies in marketing, manufacturing and sales.

By Song Kyoung-son