Industry execs discuss AI applications in the protein supply chain
by March 27, 2026 9:19 am 742 views
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing many aspects of the food industry, but applications are not as broad within the protein supply chain — primarily chicken, beef and pork — as other sectors, according to those in the industry.
Supply chain execs with Tyson Foods, Simmons Foods, and Happy Egg believe the next-generation technology could have tremendous impacts on increased efficiency within the protein supply chain. Such was the sentiment during a recent supply chain event sponsored by Arkade Retail in Bentonville.
Siloam Springs-based Simmons Foods processes about 47 billion pounds of chicken annually, with sales in excess of $67 billion. Company sales include with the pet foods segment, foodservice sales to restaurants, and private-label grocers for its chicken. The company is reportedly using AI applications of digital twins and statistical process control analytics to monitor and improve production and reduce downtime.
Marcia Reeves, senior vice president of technical services at Simmons Foods, said senior leadership is on board for AI exploration and hopeful about its potential. She said as teams begin to adopt AI and bring real-life examples to the table, they can bring others along and teach by doing. The company is implementing AI demand forecasting to lower changeover and inventory costs. Reeves said she has wanted a crystal ball to help with forecasting demand for 20 years, and AI is helping to get close to that concept.
Jon Swann, vice president of supply chain at Tyson Foods, said data fed into artificial intelligence models must be structured in a meaningful way in order to unlock value.
”This is one of the biggest challenges, but also a giant opportunity,” he said. “Tyson will protect its data, but there are opportunities in the supply chain to share more data to achieve more optimization. It’s in everything we do.”
Like Simmons, Springdale-based Tyson Foods is using AI in demand forecasting. Since 2024, Tyson has been using AI to predict food trends and generate new product recipe formulations. In 2025, Tyson began using an AI-powered conversational assistant with its customer search system.
Swann said building trust with AI is all about the validation of the data shared. He said data integrity is crucial, and human interaction with AI is meaningful and a great way to solve problems. He urges companies to start small with total company buy-in, also noting that specific problems are the best test cases.
Rogers-based Happy Egg is at the early exploration stages of AI, according to Blake Klosterman, director of supply chain. The company partnered with AI firm Skai to manage and optimize its advertising with Amazon, Target, and Instacart. At the farm level, the company has tested AI applications to monitor hen health.
While protein manufacturing — food processing — is further along with AI implementation, there is still a lag at the farm level in the early stages of the supply chain, especially in the beef cattle and seafood industries that remain fragmented, according to those in the industry.