In the age of virtual reality and AI, company leadership, clients, and technology providers gather to explore food and facility service models of the future.

To foster a collaborative learning environment with the goal of developing innovative ways to meet client and consumer needs, Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), a leading global provider of food and facilities services, hosted its first International Innovation Summit last month in Santiago, Chile. The summit involved 700 attendees representing Aramark’s international leaders from nine countries, global clients, and technology partners from Germany to Korea.

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An attendee tries a virtual reality training simulator to navigate an actual workplace environment at Aramark’s first International Innovation Summit in Santiago, Chile. The company brought together its international leadership, global clients and vendors to focus on how innovation can help drive stronger business results. (Photo: Business Wire)

“We recognize our responsibility to present and operationalize innovative ways to deliver food and facilities services that provide greater value for our clients and customers,” said Carl Mittleman, Chief Operating Officer, Aramark International. “This event was a way to use our scale to bring our leadership, clients, and technical partners together to accelerate concepts that can make a difference.”

The summit featured a trade show environment with more than 100 technical applications including several that harness the benefits of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence. For example, training programs for workers were introduced that use VR to immerse trainees into personalized environments to become more familiar with the workplace through virtual spaces and tools.

A new concept called "Foodlab" was demonstrated, which is designed to garner guest feedback to consistently change dining options based on direct consumer input. The feedback can lead to customization, such as regional menu preferences, collaborations with high profile restauranters, and partnerships with local purveyors that tailor the dining experience for the specific location.

The event also offered attendees a series of national and international keynote speakers and workshops focusing on innovation in areas such as consumer experiences, safety, sustainability, and circular economy as well as artificial intelligence.

Among the International speakers were Hassan Murad, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive AI, recognized by Forbes as one of the five rising entrepreneurs in AI, and Hyunjong Lee, the Global Business Development Head of the Korean company Nuvilab, who digitalize food through Artificial Intelligence and big data for better management of food production and waste.

“It was our intent to provide our leadership and functional teams with the right setting and some dedicated time to think about the possibilities to innovate together with our clients,” Mittleman added.

Aramark has successfully hosted an innovation summit in Chile for several years. Because the format proved to be a best practice, the company decided to expand it to other countries for 2024.

About Aramark

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) proudly serves the world’s leading educational institutions, Fortune 500 companies, world champion sports teams, prominent healthcare providers, iconic destinations and cultural attractions, and numerous municipalities in 15 countries around the world with food and facilities management. Because of our hospitality culture, our employees strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and the planet. Aramark has been recognized on FORTUNE’s list of “World’s Most Admired Companies,” Fair360’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” and “Top Companies for Supplier Diversity,” Newsweek’s list of “America’s Most Responsible Companies 2024,” the HRC’s “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality,” and earned a score of 100 on the Disability Equality Index. Learn more at www.aramark.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Instagram.

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