Restaurants are now using generative AI to create menu photos that can convince customers to order more.

Generative AI has been used to write articles and Tinder posts, as well as create recipes and all kinds of art. Now some restaurant owners are using it to post food photos for their digital menus.

Nabil Alamgir, CEO of restaurant tech startup Lunchbox, recently unveiled a free AI-powered food photo generator powered by OpenAI, the firm behind the ChatGPT viral bot. Lunchbox, a restaurant management software company that works with about 200 brands, built this tool using OpenAI’s text-to-image tool DALL-E.

Alamgir said that Lunchbox pays OpenAI a “small fee” for each request. Since its launch on January 19, it has generated 175 million AI photos, he says. Lunchbox cannot track which restaurants or brands use this tool.

Like ChatGPT, users describe what they are looking for to create content – ​​in this case, a photo of food. An insider asked him to create an image of a “blue cheese bacon burger” against a “brown” background. Style and background suggestions are optional.

The request turned out to be difficult for the bot.

It came up with four images, including a burger with blue buns, which gave them a moldy look. Another shot was of an artisan-like burger with a thick slice of blue cheese.

Alamgir said the food photo generator is designed to help restaurants increase sales. Citing Grubhub data, he said restaurants that add images to their menu items get 70% more orders and 65% more sales compared to restaurants that don’t.

“We launched this free generator to give small and new restaurants access to the same tools that larger platforms offer for a fee,” Alamgir said.

Even DoorDash insists on a good photo, according to Kristen Hawley, a food writer who first reported on the Lunchbox photo generator tool last month.

“Because the menu is the main touch point on the web, an unattractive or poorly organized menu can have a huge negative impact on a seller’s online conversion rate, regardless of the quality of the food,” a delivery operator said in a 2020 blog post.

Image query results of pancakes with blueberries and chocolate syrup on a yellow background. Screenshot

In today’s social media-obsessed world, an image is not only worth a thousand words, it can be worth 100,000 views or likes. But how will visitors react if the dish they order does not look like the one in the picture?

While tools like the food photo generator are new, historically, customers expect their meals to look as advertised. The chains even sued when menu items didn’t match their ads.

“We understand that maintaining menu integrity is important,” he said. “The reason we launched the food image generator is because it can get as close to the real image of your simpler meals as possible, but it does a marketing component that many new and smaller restaurants can’t afford.”

Alamgir said the tool is meant to fill in the gaps in restaurants that don’t have access to professional food photography.

Julie Zucker, partner and chief marketing officer of Branded Hospitality Ventures, said “appetizing” food photos can certainly entice a guest to order.

A food tech venture that also operates several New York City restaurants is investing in startups that solve problems for restaurants. Branded Hospitality Ventures is not an investor in Lunchbox.

“There is no question that photos are selling and there is huge data to back it up,” Zucker said. “However, operators didn’t open restaurants to become food photographers, so if there is an AI tool for accurately representing real food that doesn’t mislead guests, then this tool is a sure winner.”

However, fake food photos may not work for DoorDash. The company said on its website that it rejects photos in its app if they “do not properly represent the product.”

“Customers need to see a realistic view of what they will get when ordering online,” DoorDash Insider said. “Showcasing high quality, accurate menu images is critical to maintaining customer trust and increasing sales through DoorDash.”

If restaurants lack food photos, DoorDash offers free photo shoots.

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