AI News Shanghai recently released the “Shanghai Action Plan to Promote the Intelligent Layout of the Catering Industry (2026-2028).” The plan aims for intelligent technology to permeate 70% of the entire chain for group meals, fast food, tea, and coffee companies by the end of 2028. It also targets a 50% intelligent submission rate for key links in meal companies and 60% coverage for intelligent supply chain management. this marks China’s first provincial and municipal intelligent development plan specifically for catering.

The action plan focuses on applying smart technology across the entire catering industry. For canteens, it calls for widespread adoption of the “smart canteen” model, supporting online reservation platforms, and using reservation data to guide and personalize meal preparation. It also emphasizes strengthening intelligent support for central kitchens, enhancing intelligent food safety traceability, and leveraging AI to drive the efficient operation and expansion of catering brands – covering areas like central kitchens, food traceability, and catering marketing.

The plan also envisions specific scenarios. It encourages using AI nutrition analysts to automatically create nutritionally balanced weekly recipes tailored to dining groups. Furthermore,it proposes using AI to learn and master Chinese cuisine,employing sensors,the Internet of Things,and AI learning to collect,analyze,and model data from key cooking processes – including heat control,knife skills,stir-frying,and seasoning – to create reusable digital technology packages.

This action plan arises from the national emphasis on accelerating scene cultivation and expanding the large-scale application of new technologies.The accelerated implementation reflects the growing recognition of AI’s potential to transform the catering industry and beyond.