Choco, an AI-powered food distribution platform, revolutionized order processing by integrating OpenAI APIs to handle multimodal inputs like emails, texts, and voice calls. The system’s OrderAgent converts unstructured data into ERP-ready orders, while VoiceAgent enables phone-based ordering with sub-second latency, operating 24/7. This shift from manual workflows to AI automation resolved bottlenecks in the food supply chain, where teams previously spent hours translating handwritten notes and images into structured data. As Narbeh Mirzaei, VP Engineering, explained, the challenge wasn’t just processing inputs but decoding implicit context like customer-specific SKU mappings—something AI now resolves dynamically.

Leveraging OpenAI’s multimodal capabilities, Choco unified fragmented workflows into a single intelligent system. The platform’s dynamic in-context learning adapts to each customer’s ordering history, reducing ambiguity. For example, it recognizes when a voice order for “chicken” should map to a specific SKU based on past purchases. This approach eliminated millions of manual order entries annually, cutting processing time and errors. With error rates below 1–5% and 8.8 million orders processed yearly, Choco’s AI-native infrastructure scaled without adding headcount, freeing teams for strategic tasks.

The technical implementation relied on OpenAI’s production-ready tools, including speech-to-text, embeddings, and function calling. Choco built a rigorous evaluation framework with ground-truth datasets and A/B testing to ensure reliability. Unlike generic AI systems, their agents act as “orchestrators,” allowing non-engineers to design workflows. This democratizes AI adoption, turning order desks into hubs of intelligent automation. By treating LLMs as probabilistic tools rather than deterministic ones, Choco balanced innovation with transparency, educating teams on managing expectations.

Choco’s success underscores a broader trend: AI is transforming operational workflows beyond software. By handling repetitive tasks with precision, the platform enables distributors to focus on growth. As AI agents take on more responsibility, Choco’s model—blending multimodal processing, context-aware learning, and scalable infrastructure—sets a benchmark for industries reliant on complex, high-volume data. The result? A $100 million+ annual efficiency gain for partners, proving AI’s role in modernizing legacy systems.