Intelligent menu ordering system

• US 7,680,690 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2006
• Issued: 03/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Advanced Menu Technology, LLC
• Original Assignee: Advanced Menu Technology, LLC
• Inventors: Catalano, Anthony B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender; F. Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Obaid; Fateh M
• Application Number:
  US11/430,740
• Time in Patent Office: 1,407 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A methodology for customers seeking to purchase a meal from a food service vendor such as a restaurant, a cafeteria, or a vending machine, by ordering a food preparation based upon menu-selections. In addition to receiving ordered food, customers receive suggestions for optionally modifying their food orders based upon nutritional benefits and other criteria. Either during real-time customer-ordering or during post-ordering, a food-service vendor presents a customer suggestions specific to a pending tentative or completed order, wherein the customer may enjoy purported nutritional benefits by electing to follow these suggestions and thereby modify the tentative order into a corresponding completed order. Alternatively, the customer may elect to ignore these suggestions, but may nonetheless decide to effect such food-ordering modifications during subsequent visits. The food selection criteria implemented by a food service vendor is independent of individual customer identity and preferences, and are flexible and readily adaptable to accommodate changes such as a food service vendor'"'"'s marketing strategy, customer-food preferences, discoveries pertaining to nutrition and consequent good health; and may be adapted to a plethora of food service environments. The preferred embodiment contemplates a restaurant environment in which customers typically approach a food-ordering counter and interface with both a menu display and with order-taking personnel. Other embodiments implicate kiosks, vending machines, remote access devices, and locally and remotely-accessed networked computers, wherein customers interact with automated computer-driven devices instead of or in addition to wait-staff or other food service personnel.

Claims

1. A methodology for customer food ordering from an available plurality of menu item selections contained in a food service vendor'"'"'s menu

devolving from a food service knowledgebase

including

a computerized database of anonymous customer preference information, located on one of a plurality of servers digitally accessible by a plurality of networked computer workstations,

interrelated with a food ordering computerized database, located on one of a plurality of servers digitally accessible by said plurality of networked computer workstations,

said plurality of menu item selections

classified by a plurality of Food Items

subsumed into a plurality of Food Categories, with

said plurality of Food Items served by said food service vendor according to a plurality of related Food Options, with

each of said plurality of Food Items, each of said plurality of Food Options, and each of said plurality of Food Categories associated with

nutritional attributes and corresponding nutritional attribute Weighting Factors assigned by said food service vendor, and stored in a nutritional computerized database, located on one of said plurality of servers digitally accessible by said plurality of networked computer workstations, and

said customer making choices of said plurality of menu item selections to establish a tentative food order and said tentative food order entered into said plurality of servers via one of said plurality of networked computer workstations,

said methodology for customer food ordering comprising the steps of:

suggesting to said customer a plurality of alternative Food Items of said plurality of Food Items and/or a plurality of alternative Food Options of said plurality of Food Options and/or a plurality of alternative Food Categories of said plurality of Food Categories with each of said plurality of alternative Food Items and each of said plurality of alternative Food Options and each of said plurality of alternative Food Categories possessing Nutritional Point values calculated and stored within said nutritional computerized database and corresponding to the product of said nutritional attributes and said corresponding Weighting Factors assigned to each of said nutritional attributes for each of said plurality of Food Items, of each of said plurality of related Food Options, and of each of said plurality of related Food Categories, for improving health benefits relevant to said tentative food order by suggesting a substitution for said Food Item or said Food Option or said Food Category with a healthier Food Item or Food Option or Food Category possessing a lower Nutritional Point value;

reconciling, with additional order preference input from said customer, said tentative food order with said suggested plurality of alternative Food Items and said suggested plurality of alternative Food Options;

optionally revising said tentative food order according to said reconciliation by modifying a plurality of said chosen Food Items and/or modifying a plurality of said chosen Food Options to constitute a completed food order;

submitting for fulfillment said completed food order to said food service vendor; and

dispensing said submitted completed food order to said customer and updating said computerized database of anonymous customer preference information.

2. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step is performed by said food service vendor contemporaneously with said customer establishing said tentative food order.

3. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step is performed by said food service vendor simultaneously with said customer establishing said tentative food order.

4. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step comprises advising said customer of nutritional attribute values and associated health benefits contingent upon substituting a plurality of said suggested Food Items and a plurality of said suggested Food Options into said tentative food order.

5. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said Nutritional Points are calculated on an Aggregated Meal basis for a plurality of combinations of said Food Items and said Food Options by summing the product of each said nutritional attribute value and each said corresponding Weighting Factor assigned to each said nutritional attribute for each of said plurality of combinations of said Food Items and of said related Food Options constituting said tentative food order.

6. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 5, wherein said suggesting step comprises a healthier aggregation of combinations selected from the group consisting of said plurality of Food Items in the same Food Category, said plurality of Food Items in a different Food Category, or said plurality of associated Food Options, said healthier aggregation having a lower Nutritional Point value than said Nutritional Point value for said aggregation thereof in said tentative food order.

7. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to seasonal bias indicative of customer food ordering preferences contained in said food service knowledgebase.

8. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to health conditions bias indicative of customer food ordering preferences which are contained in said food service knowledgebase.

9. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to said food service vendor marketing bias indicative of customer food ordering preferences which are contained in said food service knowledgebase.

10. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to said food service vendor profitability bias indicative of customer food ordering preferences which are contained in said food service knowledgebase.

11. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to regional or national bias indicative of customer food ordering preferences which are contained in said food service knowledgebase.

12. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to a randomization bias selected from the group consisting of said Food Item basis bias, said Aggregated Meal basis bias, said seasonal suggestion bias, said health condition suggestion bias, said marketing suggestion bias, said profitability suggestion bias, said regional or national suggestion bias, a mild or aggressive suggestion bias, or said customer food ordering preferences, and which are contained in said food service knowledgebase.

13. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 12, wherein said suggesting step further comprises biasing said suggested Food Items and said suggested Food Options substitutions according to said food service vendor mild or aggressive food substitution bias contained in said food service knowledgebase.

14. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said reconciling step comprises comparing said Nutritional Points of each said suggested Food Item with said Nutritional Points of each said Food Item already incorporated into said tentative food order, to establish a Nutritional Points differential.

15. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said reconciling step comprises comparing said Nutritional Points of each said suggested Food Option with said Nutritional Points of each said Food Option already incorporated into said tentative food order, to establish a Nutritional Points differential.

16. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 6, wherein said reconciling step further comprises comparing said Nutritional Points of said healthier aggregated combinations with said Nutritional Points of said aggregated combinations of said tentative food order, to establish a Nutritional Points differential.

17. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 14, wherein said optionally revising step comprises substituting said suggested plurality of Food Items into said tentative food order based upon said Nutritional Points differential being positive, so that said customer obtains a nutritional benefit functionally related to said Nutritional Points differential.

18. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 15, wherein said optionally revising step comprises substituting said suggested plurality of Food Options into said tentative food order based upon said Nutritional Points differential being positive, so that said customer obtains a nutritional benefit functionally related to said Nutritional Points differential.

19. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 16, wherein said optionally revising step comprises substituting said suggested aggregated combinations based upon said Nutritional Points differential being positive, so that said customer obtains a nutritional benefit functionally related to said Nutritional Points differential.

20. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of nutritional attribute suggestions is presented to said customer on a display device.

21. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of nutritional attribute suggestions is presented to said customer in printed form.

22. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of nutritional attribute suggestions is presented to said customer in a freestanding structure.

23. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step comprises, during high customer food-ordering periods, presenting said suggestions to said customer subsequent to said customer submitting said completed food order.

24. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 23, wherein said receiving step comprises said customer receiving said suggestions contemporaneously with said completed food order.

25. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step comprises, during high customer food-ordering periods, exclusively presenting said Aggregated Meal suggestions to said customer.

26. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 23, wherein said receiving step comprises said customer receiving said suggestions simultaneously with said completed food order.

27. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said submitting step comprises said food service vendor recording frequency of acceptance and rejection in a historical database as a function of date, time, and location for each of said plurality of suggestions for customers'"'"' said frequency of revisions to said tentative food orders.

28. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 27, wherein said recording step is performed in real-time.

29. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 27, wherein said suggestions engendered in said suggesting step are refined based upon said customers'"'"' said frequency of revisions to said tentative food orders.

30. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggestions engendered in said suggesting step are refined based upon nutritional science discoveries.

31. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 29, wherein said plurality of suggestions obtained from said food service knowledgebase are periodically updated based upon said frequency of customer acceptance and rejection of said suggestions for revising said tentative food orders which are contained in said historical database.

32. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 29, wherein said plurality of weighting factors obtained from said food service knowledgebase are periodically updated based upon said frequency of customer acceptance and rejection of said suggestions for revising said tentative food orders which are contained in said historical database.

33. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 29, wherein said plurality of nutritional attributes obtained from said food service knowledgebase are periodically updated based upon said frequency of customer acceptance and rejection of said suggestions for revising said tentative food orders which are contained in said historical database.

34. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked in a restaurant.

35. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 34, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked in a fast-food restaurant.

36. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 34, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked in a sit-down restaurant.

37. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked in a cafeteria.

38. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked via a vending machine.

39. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said methodology for customer food ordering is invoked via a customer drive-up window.

40. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step is invoked remotely by said customer contemporaneously with said customer placing said tentative food order.

41. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said suggesting step is invoked remotely by said customer with said customer subsequently placing said tentative food order.

42. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 4, wherein said suggesting step is invoked remotely by said customer for acquiring nutritional knowledge about said plurality of menu item selections.

43. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 1, wherein said completed food order is constrained by said food service vendor so that said customer may only invoke said tentative food order that satisfies said approved health benefits.

44. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 43, wherein said tentative food order is functionally related only to said Aggregated Meal basis selection.

45. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 30, wherein said plurality of Weighting Factors obtained from said food service knowledgebase are periodically updated based upon said nutritional science discoveries.

46. The methodology for customer food ordering recited in claim 30, wherein said plurality of nutritional attributes obtained from said food service knowledgebase are periodically updated based upon said nutritional science discoveries.