It's 11:30 a.m. in a major Norwegian hospital. The canteen has prepared lunch for 700 guests, but only about 560 show up. The next day, the patient occupancy increases sharply, now the canteen risks running out of food in the middle of the lunch rush, and the canteen is additionally short of people.

At the same time, nursing staff in the wards spend valuable time noting what and how much patients eat, information that later has to be manually entered into the medical record system. These parallel challenges are the everyday life of infirmaries, precisely calculated canteen operation and efficient meal registration for patients.

For canteens with 24/7 operations, whether hospitals, large workplaces or other businesses with shift-based activity, unpredictable visitor numbers are one of the biggest challenges to efficient operation. But what if you could plan canteen visitor numbers with higher hit safety while improving meal registration?

According to Food is thrown away every year surrounding 451,600 tonnes of edible food in Norway, correspondingly 82 kg per capita. Traditional methods such as manual calculations and “a little extra just in case” work poorly when:

The result is oversupply, unnecessary costs and disgruntled guests when popular dishes are sold out.

Hitting the right number of hands in the kitchen, at the checkout and in the dishes is at least as demanding -- and often more expensive -- than the raw materials. Misstaffing one week can eat up the entire gain of reduced food waste.

Our machine learning engine, Izy Prediction, combining these data sources:

• Historical sales figures from the checkout system
• Shift and shift schedules from HR solutions
• Seasonal and calendar data for holidays and holidays
• External factors such as weather and local events

With Izy Prediction, you get access to tools that not only simplify this process, but also help reduce food waste, optimize staffing, and increase efficiency.

Izy Prediction is an AI-based solution that analyzes historical data, weather data and transactions to provide accurate forecasts about visitor numbers and sales. Using machine learning, the system provides precise forecasts for the next few weeks. This allows the canteen operation to plan everything from procurement to staffing in a smarter and more sustainable way.

• Sales Forecasts: Predict the number of guests and sales volume based on factors such as transaction data, weather and holiday discontinuities.
• Resource planning: Plan your staffing to meet expected demand and optimize your workflow ahead of time.
• Food Waste and Sustainability: Reduce food waste and CO₂ footprint by adapting purchasing and menus to expected demand, while meeting your ESG requirements.

Although Izy Prediction works great on its own, you can combine it with Izy MaiFood POS — an intelligent checkout system with image recognition that streamlines the check-out process.

Together, Izy Prediction and MaiFood POS provide a holistic solution that helps you to:

• Automate registration of sold portions via camera
• Align predictions with actual sales in real time
• Reducing queues and waiting times for guests
• Ensure forecasts are adjusted to real records

Izy MaiFood is an advanced digital checkout system — also called POS, that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and smart payment solutions. Designed specifically for canteens and kiosks in commercial buildings, the system delivers precision, efficiency and a seamless user experience.

• Automatic Product Recognition
  Integrated scale and high-speed camera ensure quick identification of goods and accurate pricing.
• Fast and secure payment
  QR scanner and NFC terminal make it easy to pay by card or mobile.
• Self-service box
  Streamlines check-out and reduces the need for staffing, with an average of 14 seconds per transaction.
• Receipt printing
  For those who wish, the system can also print receipts.

Tangible value for your canteen operation

When you use both Izy Prediction and the Maifood portal, you achieve:

1. Precise Procurement and Inventory Management — based on real-time data and forecasts
2. Optimal staffing — customized 24/7 operation and variable traffic
3. Automated menu and portion suggestions — for minimal waste
4. Clear savings — through lower raw material costs and better resource utilization

A concrete scenario: How much do you save by a 10% cut in food waste?

With an annual raw material cost of SEK 4,000,000, will a Waste reduction of 10% Make savings on the whole 400,000 kr. So even a modest reduction yields significant financial gains — while strengthening your sustainability profile.

In addition, optimizing staffing to when the need is actually there, such as starting a part-time shift two hours later on quiet days, or dropping an overtime guard when the forecast shows low traffic, would yield even greater gains. The result is the same level of service, less stress and a salary expense that follows the number of guests, not a static shift.

We will help you with the setup of the system, you only need internet access to use the machine

Use image recognition to teach the system to know your products

Easily manage everything from products to sale via the Maifood portal

Want to see how the Maifood dashboard can help you plan visitor numbers and improve your canteen operation? Book a demo today, where we'll show you how the system can be adapted to your challenges — whether you run canteens in hospitals, airports or other businesses with varying visitor patterns.

Are you ready for smarter canteen operations with Izy Prediction and MaiFood?

Book free demo of Izy here →
Or book one free meeting with Izy right on the calendar.

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about our canteen operation solution.

The AI engine analyzes your historical data, combined with current factors such as shift schedules and calendar events, to calculate expected traffic inflows - and adjusts forecasts as new information comes in.

Most users notice improvements in waste reduction and resource utilization within the first few weeks of implementation, but experience may vary depending on data volume and setup.

The Izy solution offers open interfaces (APIs) that are adapted to most ERP, POS and personnel planning solutions, so you can have a seamless transition without major operational changes.

Contact us for a free demo and we will guide you through the process to get started.

Oh, absolutely. The tool is modular and can be configured for canteens of all sizes, from small corporate canteens to large large kitchens with continuous operation.