UK plans to turbocharge AI: How could national development bolster British food security?

The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced a plan to “mainline artificial intelligence (AI) into the veins of the nation,” backed by an initial £14 billion (US$17.3 billion) in private investments. The plans are expected to boost efficiency, accountability, and sustainability across national industries, including F&B, for which business leaders say food security will be bolstered domestically and internationally. 

The investment comes in addition to the £47 billion (US$58.25 billion) committed to AI infrastructure at the International Investment Summit last year. Prime Minister Starmer says the plans will create 13,250 jobs and increase productivity by 1.5% annually. 

We speak to leading companies integrating AI into the agriculture, foodservice, and production segments about the future outlook of the F&B industry. 

Andrew Lloyd, CEO of Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), a Scotland-based vertical farming company, tells Food Ingredients First: “In recent years, AI has become something of a buzz term: often over, or indeed incorrectly, used, but frequently under-delivered. But with government backing driving forward its effective integration it could have a significant impact on the UK’s food security.” 

“From streamlining practices and efficiencies through to providing more resilient supply chains, diversified revenue streams, and increased productivity, AI could deliver any number of benefits to Britain’s agriculture sector far over and above the drones and GPS-guided or self-driving machines that are currently well-integrated into farming practices,” he says. 

“There’s a certain irony to the situation. There is a very real chance that much of the UK government’s investment in AI will result in British companies continuing to develop technology solutions for export, fuelling growth internationally. The food security that can be enabled through AI integration with technology such as vertical farming is very likely to be that of other nations in which the policy or funding environments are better set up to enable adoption.” 

Agricultural development

AI is already well integrated into much of the UK’s agricultural production, but Lloyd says human labor is still often needlessly wasted on tasks that will soon be automated. 

“Where AI is really able to move the needle for agriculture is through data analysis and modeling, taking on labor-intensive tasks to free up human capacity.” 

British food production already relies heavily on AI.“If you take a controlled environment like a vertical farm, for example, there are so many variables you can adjust that could impact the success (or otherwise) of a crop’s growth: light pulsing and phasing, for example, nutrient and water delivery, or even gas composition within the environment,” he says. 

“A human couldn’t look at all those elements in a trial environment, this is where AI and machine learning (ML) come into their own, allowing growers to analyze a near-infinite number of variables to look for trends.”

IGS has primarily used AI to improve the grower experience by saving time and resources. For example, it has trained an AI crop segmentation model to analyze images and identify small changes in crops that are unidentifiable to the human eye, Lloyd explains. 

Another core challenge for the vertical farming industry at present is energy usage. AI presents a significant opportunity to help regulate this, allowing growers to diversify revenue streams by evening out usage at times of peak consumer demand, selling electricity back to the grid before scaling usage back up again when demand dips.

Fighting food waste 

Jess Tausig, EMEA managing director for Winnow, an AI developer for the hospitality industry, tells us the company’s technology can already help businesses cut their food waste in half. 

“Our flagship products, such as Winnow Vision, combine advanced ML with image recognition to identify and track food waste automatically. On average, kitchens using Winnow cut food costs by 2-4%, improving margins while reducing environmental impact,” she says. 

“AI is revolutionizing food waste management by enabling precise measurement, prediction, and waste prevention. As technology becomes more accessible, we anticipate broader adoption across sectors, including smaller kitchens and operations.”An IGS vertifical farm in Scotland.

“We envision that AI tools will ultimately integrate seamlessly with supply chain systems, dynamically adjusting inventory and purchasing based on predicted waste. This real-time optimization will significantly reduce overproduction, improve sustainability, and empower businesses to meet economic and environmental goals.”

Tausig says the government should prioritize fostering public-private partnerships to accelerate AI innovation and its real-world applications. “By collaborating with businesses, the government can drive pilot programs, de-risk AI adoption for smaller enterprises, and ensure that solutions address industry-specific challenges like food waste.”

“AI directly contributes to global efforts to combat climate change, reduce resource consumption, and build a more sustainable future. The UK has an opportunity to lead in this space, showcasing how technology can drive meaningful environmental progress while fostering economic growth.”

Fostering foodservice efficiency 

Elizabeth Wickham, marketing director for Tenzo, a restaurant management and sales forecasting application business based in London, says that hospitality and foodservice have traditionally been slower to adopt new technologies without a catalyst. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, forced businesses to embrace new types of technology for ordering, managing multiple channels, and new ways of paying,” she says. 

“The government’s plans for AI will hopefully create the same kind of shift for AI adoption as more and more sectors embrace new ways of working not to replace, but augment their value.”

Tenzo has been incorporating AI into its functions for around eight years and now plans to create an AI sidekick that will help hospitality operators with day-to-day decision-making. 

Andrew Lloyd, CEO of IGS, says automation will help British labor problems rather than exacerbate them.“Eventually, the tool will leverage integrations from over 80 software systems, training its model and using ML to tailor insights for individual queries, making complex data digestible,” Wickham explains. 

“AI will enable businesses to focus on what they do best: giving hospitality, while alleviating the manual, tedious, back-office tasks that no one enjoys. This will translate to better guest experiences, better visibility into operations, and ultimately more profitable businesses.”

“Manual, repetitive tasks that have previously required several people’s time and input will now be replaced with AI. These roles will have to pivot to implementing insights rather than simply gathering data,” she asserts. 

Automation concerns 

While the government’s plans promise an increase in employment, many fear that a rise in automation could lead to wide-scale job losses.

Wickham says that the task of showing how the shift toward AI can be made without making roles redundant now falls on tech companies. “It’s important to state that AI can never replace people in hospitality businesses as it’s the people who bring the value to hospitality experiences whether that’s at your local pizza joint, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, or your daily coffee shop ritual.”

Lloyd also says automation in the UK has the potential to ease some of the country’s labor problems, especially in the agriculture sector. 

“To my mind, there are far more benefits than drawbacks that could be delivered to the agricultural industry through the integration of AI, robotics, and advanced automated processes,” he remarks. 

“Both the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit have contributed to labor shortages in the UK’s food supply chain, exacerbated by factors such as low wages and an aging rural population — as of June 2024, 38% of English farmers were aged 65 or older. Technological advances carry the huge potential to ease some of this labor load.” 

“It is enormously important that the government doesn’t allow the term ‘AI’ to continue to develop a life of its own: its integration cannot just be AI for AI’s sake. The government plans are a solid stride in the right direction, but it must now deliver on its commitments, taking feedback from industry and adapting along the way to accommodate technology that continues to advance exponentially.”

“Skills and talent development will be vital in ensuring the plan’s long-term success, and it is crucial that this sees investment both in the existing workforce and in the generations to come,” he concludes.