Key takeaways
It's an artificial intelligence solution designed to transform communication and operations between restaurants and food distributors.
The announcement marks the first AI-powered voice agent built specifically for the food service industry.
The voice agent, built on OpenAI's Realtime API, can receive phone calls, process orders, answer product availability questions, and recommend additional items based on customer needs.
The system operates 24/7 and supports communication in any language. Choco is an AI-powered platform that connects restaurants and food distributors.
Addressing critical staffing challenges in food distribution
The Choco Voice Agent targets one of the food service industry's most pressing operational challenges: the inability to staff night shifts.
Food distributors across multiple regions have struggled to find employees willing to work overnight hours, manually typing orders that arrive after business hours.
According to the company, high employee turnover, continuous retraining costs, and reliance on outdated answering machines have created significant inefficiencies in the ordering process.
Restaurants calling in orders after hours typically receive no immediate feedback, which leads to missed items, excess inventory waste, and time-consuming callbacks the following day.
The AI voice agent replaces these manual processes with real-time, automated conversations.
The system can confirm stock availability instantly, suggest alternative products when items are unavailable, and highlight promotional offers on products approaching expiration dates.
These capabilities help distributors increase sales while simultaneously reducing costs and food waste.
Daniel Khachab, Co-Founder and CEO of Choco, said in a statement: "Distributors are facing challenges that slow down their growth; they can't find people willing to take orders by night anymore. Turnover is high, the work is repetitive, and answering machines don't give restaurants the feedback they need.
Together with OpenAI, we're changing that. The Choco Voice Agent replaces those night shifts with real-time conversations that confirm stock, suggest alternatives, and help reduce food waste. It's technology that adapts to people — not the other way around."
Demonstrated efficiency gains through AI integration
By integrating OpenAI's voice models into Choco's existing platform, the Voice Agent automates repetitive order-taking tasks and eliminates common ordering errors.
The implementation provides distributors with additional time to focus on customer service and business growth initiatives.
Choco's AI technology has already demonstrated measurable operational improvements.
The company reports that order accuracy has increased to 95%, manual order processing time has been reduced by 50%, and food waste has decreased through better inventory management.
The new Voice Agent is expected to further enhance these efficiency metrics.
The collaboration combines Choco's operational expertise in food supply chain management with OpenAI's real-time AI capabilities.
The partnership aims to drive efficiency, sustainability, and innovation across Europe and other markets where Choco operates.
Niklas Harzheim, Director, Technology & Digital Industries at OpenAI, stated: "OpenAI's mission is to empower innovators like Choco to apply cutting-edge AI in ways that deliver real impact.
Choco deeply understands the challenges in the food sector, from inefficiencies in supply chains to the global issue of food waste, and is using OpenAI's models to build solutions that make a tangible difference. Together, we're showing how frontier AI can help reduce waste, cut costs, and boost productivity for thousands of suppliers and restaurants worldwide."
