Kai Technology x Ajinomoto Co-developed "AI Menu Planner" Officially Released as New Feature for Nutrition and Food Service Management Software "Mr. Kendateman Web"
Kai Technology and Ajinomoto have co-developed the "AI Menu Planner," which will be officially released as a new feature of the nutrition and food service management software "Mr. Kendateman Web" starting May 2026. This AI-driven service aims to optimize menu planning and ingredient costs by automating numerical and condition adjustments, reducing nutritionists' workload by approximately 70% and enhancing food quality.
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- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 23:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 11, 2026 at 14:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 11, 2026 at 22:57 (8h 25m after Collected)
Kai Technology Inc. (Headquarters: Ohkido Government Building 6F, 87 Naito-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Hitomi Hara) will begin sales of its AI-driven automated menu generation service, "AI Menu Planner," co-developed with Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Headquarters: 1-15-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Shigeo Nakamura), as a new feature of its nutrition and food service management software, "Mr. Kendateman Web" (for facilities, nursery schools, and food service companies), starting May 2026.
In Japan's food service industry, severe labor shortages and soaring ingredient costs present dual challenges. The "AI Menu Planner" addresses these issues by having AI handle the basic numerical and conditional adjustments for menu creation, thereby optimizing both workflow and ingredient costs. This enables nutritionists and registered dietitians to concentrate on more specialized and essential tasks, such as pursuing "food quality"—including color, taste, and satisfaction—and providing "nutrition care" tailored to the conditions of residents and patients.
—The era of AI-driven numerical adjustments for menu creation. Nutritionists/Registered Dietitians can focus on essential tasks as "menu professionals."—
Menu creation in food service settings demands highly sophisticated adjustments that simultaneously satisfy diverse elements, such as adherence to dietary intake standards, food composition balance, cost management, item quantity adjustments, avoidance of ingredient duplication, balance of food pairings and flavors, and utilization of seasonal ingredients. It is truly a task like assembling a complex puzzle. The "AI Menu Planner" comprehensively considers this quantitative information and automatically generates optimal menu proposals, achieving both a reduction in the burden on professionals and an improvement in quality.
Furthermore, it offers a variety of support functions for final menu adjustments. Based on previously used menus, it supports partial editing, such as regenerating only lunch for a specific date or replacing just one dish with another. It also features a mechanism that recommends alternative dishes with similar nutritional value and cost, automatically considering ingredient duplication on preceding and succeeding days. This significantly reduces the hesitation and trial-and-error involved in dish replacement, creating an environment where nutritionists and registered dietitians can efficiently perform their menu creation tasks.
Figure: AI Menu Planner's alternative dish recommendation function
Prior to the release, a beta version was tested by five food service operators, confirming the following three effects:
① Significant reduction in menu creation time: approximately 70% reduction *1
② Suppression of ingredient costs and reduction of daily fluctuations through optimized combinations
③ Stable fulfillment of standard nutrients and reduction of daily fluctuations
*1 Source: From the website of Ars Co., Ltd., one of the verification participating companies: Participated in a demonstration experiment for AI-driven menu creation.
Going forward, AI-driven menu creation is planned to expand beyond regular meals to include texture-modified meals (such as dysphagia diets) and therapeutic meals (such as diabetic and kidney disease diets).
Under our mission of "a comfortable tomorrow with an extra plus," we will continue to be a leading company in nutrition and food service management systems. We are committed to further streamlining the work of nutritionists and registered dietitians in food service settings through the power of IT, working towards a future where they can maximize their expertise in areas such as dietary guidance, nutrition care, and recipe development.
◆Company Profile
Kai Technology Inc.
Kai Technology is an IT company engaged in system development and the development and sales of its proprietary nutrition and food service management software, "Mr. Kendateman." With the mission of "a comfortable tomorrow with an extra plus," we aim to be a company that provides useful "people," "things," and "information" through IT technology, resolving inconveniences and transforming them into comfort for our customers.
・Location: Ohkido Government Building 6F, 87 Naito-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
・Established: December 17, 2015 (Predecessor Wizsoft established March 29, 1990)
・President: Hitomi Hara
・Business Activities: System development business, package software development and sales business
・Number of Employees: 379 (Group total as of August 2025)
・Website: https://chitech.co.jp/
・"Mr. Kendateman Web" service page: https://kk-tas.jp/
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
・Location: 1-15-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
・Established: December 17, 1925
・Representative: Shigeo Nakamura
・Number of Employees: 34,860 (Consolidated as of March 31, 2025)
・Website: https://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/
◆Ajinomoto Co., Inc. press release regarding this matter
https://news.ajinomoto.co.jp/2026/05/20260511.html
*Company names and product/service names mentioned are trade names or trademarks of their respective companies.
In Japan's food service industry, severe labor shortages and soaring ingredient costs present dual challenges. The "AI Menu Planner" addresses these issues by having AI handle the basic numerical and conditional adjustments for menu creation, thereby optimizing both workflow and ingredient costs. This enables nutritionists and registered dietitians to concentrate on more specialized and essential tasks, such as pursuing "food quality"—including color, taste, and satisfaction—and providing "nutrition care" tailored to the conditions of residents and patients.
—The era of AI-driven numerical adjustments for menu creation. Nutritionists/Registered Dietitians can focus on essential tasks as "menu professionals."—
Menu creation in food service settings demands highly sophisticated adjustments that simultaneously satisfy diverse elements, such as adherence to dietary intake standards, food composition balance, cost management, item quantity adjustments, avoidance of ingredient duplication, balance of food pairings and flavors, and utilization of seasonal ingredients. It is truly a task like assembling a complex puzzle. The "AI Menu Planner" comprehensively considers this quantitative information and automatically generates optimal menu proposals, achieving both a reduction in the burden on professionals and an improvement in quality.
Furthermore, it offers a variety of support functions for final menu adjustments. Based on previously used menus, it supports partial editing, such as regenerating only lunch for a specific date or replacing just one dish with another. It also features a mechanism that recommends alternative dishes with similar nutritional value and cost, automatically considering ingredient duplication on preceding and succeeding days. This significantly reduces the hesitation and trial-and-error involved in dish replacement, creating an environment where nutritionists and registered dietitians can efficiently perform their menu creation tasks.
Figure: AI Menu Planner's alternative dish recommendation function
Prior to the release, a beta version was tested by five food service operators, confirming the following three effects:
① Significant reduction in menu creation time: approximately 70% reduction *1
② Suppression of ingredient costs and reduction of daily fluctuations through optimized combinations
③ Stable fulfillment of standard nutrients and reduction of daily fluctuations
*1 Source: From the website of Ars Co., Ltd., one of the verification participating companies: Participated in a demonstration experiment for AI-driven menu creation.
Going forward, AI-driven menu creation is planned to expand beyond regular meals to include texture-modified meals (such as dysphagia diets) and therapeutic meals (such as diabetic and kidney disease diets).
Under our mission of "a comfortable tomorrow with an extra plus," we will continue to be a leading company in nutrition and food service management systems. We are committed to further streamlining the work of nutritionists and registered dietitians in food service settings through the power of IT, working towards a future where they can maximize their expertise in areas such as dietary guidance, nutrition care, and recipe development.
◆Company Profile
Kai Technology Inc.
Kai Technology is an IT company engaged in system development and the development and sales of its proprietary nutrition and food service management software, "Mr. Kendateman." With the mission of "a comfortable tomorrow with an extra plus," we aim to be a company that provides useful "people," "things," and "information" through IT technology, resolving inconveniences and transforming them into comfort for our customers.
・Location: Ohkido Government Building 6F, 87 Naito-machi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
・Established: December 17, 2015 (Predecessor Wizsoft established March 29, 1990)
・President: Hitomi Hara
・Business Activities: System development business, package software development and sales business
・Number of Employees: 379 (Group total as of August 2025)
・Website: https://chitech.co.jp/
・"Mr. Kendateman Web" service page: https://kk-tas.jp/
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
・Location: 1-15-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
・Established: December 17, 1925
・Representative: Shigeo Nakamura
・Number of Employees: 34,860 (Consolidated as of March 31, 2025)
・Website: https://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/
◆Ajinomoto Co., Inc. press release regarding this matter
https://news.ajinomoto.co.jp/2026/05/20260511.html
*Company names and product/service names mentioned are trade names or trademarks of their respective companies.