Company Introduction

Harapeco Co., Ltd. is a food service company headquartered in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido. In addition to producing and delivering bento lunches and operating employee cafeterias at companies and dormitories, the company also operates a mobile employee cafeteria where employees can enjoy hot meals in small spaces such as conference rooms.

With the philosophy of "solving food-related problems," the company delivers nutritionally balanced, warm meals to working people through a unique style that is half bento lunch box, half employee cafeteria.

Issues before introducing generative AI

For Harapeco, a company that supports the smiles of working people through food, the introduction of technology initially generated more anxiety than excitement.

There was a fundamental fear that "humans will be eaten up by AI" and "AI will take away our ability to think," so the psychological hurdles to using AI were high at the start. However, there was a mountain of inefficient work on the ground. Particularly heavy burdens were calculating recipes for large quantities of food, such as for 100 people, and sudden requests for nutritional calculations when a registered dietitian was unavailable.

Furthermore, when creating the monthly menu, no matter how experienced the staff member, they would inevitably fall into the same old pattern if they were thinking alone. How to continue to provide fresh and surprising meals without compromising quality within a limited time frame was a major challenge for the entire organization.

Effects after generative AI introduction training

After undergoing the training, they redefined AI as a "powerful partner that expands our experience," and the most notable results were seen in the area of recipe and menu creation.

When creating a month's worth of menus, the chefs provided the AI with prerequisites and engaged in repeated dialogue, which allowed them to come up with new ideas for ingredient combinations and seasonings that they had not previously considered. By adding the "new perspective" brought by AI to the "reliable flavors" based on their own experience, they were able to literally update their menus. This made it possible to provide a richer range of food that customers would not tire of.

On the practical side, AI can instantly support tasks that were previously done manually, such as scaling up a recipe for one serving to 100 people, checking for allergies, etc. Furthermore, the sales promotion and design work that supports on-site operations has also evolved dramatically.

For example, on the popular "Curry Day," it is essential to display posters that communicate specific serving guidelines, such as "up to two ladles." Previously, this process took one to two hours, but by utilizing image generation AI, it has been reduced to around 10 to 30 minutes. By being able to quickly transmit appropriate information, it is possible to prevent confusion on the ground, such as having to rush from the central kitchen to deliver more.

Future outlook

Currently, a culture is beginning to take root, centered around the CEO and practical staff, who refer to AI as "Chat-kun" and can consult with each other casually.

Going forward, we plan to expand this training to employees who have not yet fully utilized the technology, and standardize the skills of the entire company. By thoroughly streamlining routine calculations and composition planning that can be left to AI, we aim to use the time saved to "pursue even more delicious meals" and "respond carefully to customer issues."

"Mastering AI so that we don't lose to AI." Harapeco Inc. will continue to solve food-related problems by combining technology with warm, homemade meals.