Food cost
Systematic optimization of recipes and substitutes instead of one-off corrections after the period closes.
$80K-850K / year
Recipe & Menu Intelligence
Build better recipes. Optimize cost.Make them production-ready with AI.
INVO AI supports the whole recipe lifecycle - from ingredient selection and food cost optimization, through processing coefficients and substitutes, to building production stages and generating production-ready technological instructions.
Ingredients · 450 g portion
- Chicken breast
- 140 g
- Pasta
- 120 g
- Spinach
- 70 g
- Cream
- 45 g
- Parmesan
- 20 g
- Seasoning
- 5 g
AI recipe analysis
Food cost$2.15
4 optimization opportunities found
- Swap ingredient A for Supplier B's variant−$0.09 / portion
- An alternative chicken cut is available−$0.06 / portion
- Carrot coefficient differs from similar recipesCheck 1.18 → 1.12
Potential food cost
$2.15$2.00
AI workspace for recipes
From an idea to a recipethat is ready for production.
AI works directly inside the existing recipe editor - ingredients, size variants, processing coefficients, production stages and linked variants. No separate tool, no parallel database.
Describe the dish
"High-protein creamy chicken pasta, ~600 kcal"
AI drafts the recipe
Ingredients + quantities
AI optimizes
Food cost + alternatives + coefficients
AI validates
Nutrition + allergens + requirements
AI builds the process
Production stages + ingredient assignment
AI drafts the instruction
Machine + process + technological parameters
Human approval
Dietitian / technologist
AI food cost optimization
AI looks for savingsin every recipe.
INVO analyzes the full ingredient list, quantities, purchase prices, available substitutes and historical recipes to point out ways of lowering food cost without rebuilding the recipe by hand.
Current recipe
Creamy chicken pasta
Food cost: $2.15
Margin: 55.4%
AI found 3 opportunities
Chicken breast
- Currently
- $5.95 / kg
- Alternative · Chicken breast B
- $5.50 / kg
$0.08 / portion
Parmesan
- Currently
- $13.40 / kg
- Recommendation · Grana Padano
- -
$0.05 / portion
Cream
- Current amount
- 60 g
- Similar recipes
- 48-55 g
Check the amount
Optimized food cost
$2.15$2.01
Potential saving
$0.14 / meal
At 100 000 portions
Potential impact $14,000
An indicative simulation of potential savings - the values are not a guaranteed result.
AI recipe creator
Describe the dish.AI drafts the first recipe.
No starting from an empty table. A short description is enough to get a first, editable proposal.
Prompt
"Creamy chicken pasta with parmesan and spinach. Around 600 kcal, at least 35 g protein. Portion size 450 g."
AI picks ingredients from the real ingredients available in the INVO database - not from a generic ingredient list.
Recipe generated by AI
- Chicken breast
- 140 g
- Pasta
- 120 g
- Spinach
- 70 g
- Cream
- 45 g
- Parmesan
- 20 g
- Seasoning
- 5 g
Validation
- Calories
- 608 kcal
- Protein
- 39 g
- Food cost
- $2.06
- Allergens
- Gluten · Dairy
Processing coefficients
Let AI recommendthe processing coefficients.
Instead of entering every processing coefficient by hand, AI can suggest values based on the ingredient, the cooking method, historical recipes and previously approved values in the database.
AI recommendation
Recommended coefficient: 1.18
Based on
- Ingredient
- Chicken breast
- Processing
- Roasting · 180 °C
- Historical recipes
- 46
- Typical range
- 1.14-1.21
- Confidence
- High
AI recommends - it never overwrites approved technological parameters without confirmation.
Apply 1.18Ingredient and library intelligence
Find the best substitute,and keep the recipe library clean.
AI alternatives for: Chicken breast
For every ingredient INVO can search the available ingredient base and rank potential substitutes by cost, nutrition, allergens, availability, supplier, technological properties and historical use.
Chicken breast - Supplier B
Same allergen profile
98% match−7.4% costChicken thigh
Higher fat content · recipe adjustment required
87% match−18.2% costTurkey breast
Different nutritional profile
84% match−4.8% cost
Possible duplicates found
AI compares recipe names, ingredients, quantities, nutrition and preparation methods to point out dishes that may already exist in the database.
You are creating
Creamy chicken pasta
- Creamy chicken pasta96% similarity
- Chicken pasta - Classic91% similarity
- Chicken pasta XL88% similarity
The benefit isn't just one fewer record - AI helps keep recipe master data ordered and consistent.
AI production technology
Turn a recipeinto a production process.
AI analyzes ingredients, quantities, preparation requirements and the production environment to propose the technological stages needed to make the dish.
Creamy chicken pasta - production stages (AI proposal)
- 01
Ingredient preparation
Chicken breast → cut into 20-25 mm strips · Spinach → wash and drain
- 02
Boiling
Pasta → boil in water · target time: 8-10 min
- 03
Thermal processing
Chicken → oven / combi steamer, program recommended from the configured process
- 04
Sauce preparation
Cream + parmesan + seasoning
- 05
Mixing
Combine the prepared ingredients
- 06
Portioning
Target portion: 450 g
- 07
Packing / dispatch
Assign the configured packaging and target process
AI knows at which stage each ingredient enters
Once the stages are generated, every ingredient is assigned to the steps where it is actually used.
- Chicken
- Preparation · Cutting · Thermal processing
- Pasta
- Boiling · Draining · Mixing
- Cream
- Sauce preparation
- Parmesan
- Sauce preparation · Final assembly
- Spinach
- Preparation · Mixing
The recipe stops being a list of ingredients. It becomes a technological instruction for making the product.
Production instructions
Generate production-readyinstructions automatically.
From the approved recipe and production stages, AI can prepare a draft technological instruction for the production team - in the context of a specific plant.
Plant context used
- Available machines and production lines
- Ovens / kettles / mixers and their capacities
- Available machine programs
- Plant standards
- Approved procedures
Technological instruction - draft
Stage 03 - Chicken preparation
- Machine
- Combi oven 04
- Batch
- 80 kg
- Preparation
- Cut the chicken to the configured production fraction.
- Process
- Apply the approved thermal process for this product and batch configuration.
- Quality control point
- Verify the configured critical process parameters before handover to the next stage.
AI uses approved technological parameters, equipment specifications and plant procedures. The model's own knowledge is treated as support when preparing a proposal - never as a source of food safety parameters. Every instruction requires human approval.
Menu optimization
Optimize one recipe -or the whole menu.
A level above a single recipe: AI analyzes hundreds of recipes at once against food cost, nutrition, ingredient availability, waste, production capacity, purchasing requirements and margin.
An indicative simulation of potential savings - the values are not a guaranteed result.
Business impact
Where the P&Lactually comes from.
The effect shows up in food cost, in the time of the technology team and in the repeatability of production.
Dietitian and technologist time
The first version of a recipe, the coefficients and the stages arrive as a proposal to approve.
30-50% shorter recipe creation
Technology standardization
Production stages and instructions in one consistent format across the plant.
fewer execution variances
Master data order
Detecting duplicates and variants limits the growth of the recipe database.
fewer records to maintain
Indicative values for production at $14-55M revenue scale - an illustrative simulation, not a declared result.
Recipe & Menu Intelligence
See Recipe Intelligenceon your own recipes.
Book a walkthrough: from a description of the dish, through cost optimization, to a technological instruction for production.