Brief
Woolworths launches live beta of AI food assistant W. Chef
The retailer’s W. Chef AI moves from development to a live beta, offering personalised meal ideas and direct shopping integration.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Woolworths has moved its AI‑powered food assistant, W. Chef, from development into a live customer‑testing phase, allowing a first group of shoppers to ask the Woolworths app for dinner ideas, wine pairings and to add ingredients to their basket in a single prompt, according to bizcommunity.com.
What happened
The beta launch, announced on 8 October 2026, lets participants interact with W. Chef through the Woolworths app. The assistant draws on more than 20 years of recipes from Woolworths Taste and uses artificial intelligence to generate personalised meal suggestions based on dietary requirements, preferences and occasions. It can also translate a meal request into a shopping basket that feeds directly into Woolworths’ Dash delivery service.
What the reports add
The article notes that the live test is the first time W. Chef is used outside Woolworths’ internal environment, providing real‑world usage data rather than development‑stage testing. It also highlights the retailer’s intention to refine the tool using customer feedback before a broader rollout in the coming months.
What was said
Sam Ngumeni, group CEO of Woolworths, said, “Food is at the heart of Woolworths and remains our greatest competitive advantage… W. Chef is a good example of what that looks like in practice,” as reported by bizcommunity.com.
How it came about
The launch follows Woolworths’ ongoing push to embed AI across the customer journey, linking meal inspiration, ingredient selection and purchase into a single digital interaction. Earlier Felo coverage of food‑related innovations, such as the Chef’s Table Festival (see Chef’s Table Festival), underscores the retailer’s focus on culinary experiences as a differentiator.
Key facts
- Woolworths began live beta testing of its AI food assistant W. Chef on 8 Oct 2026. (bizcommunity.com)
- W. Chef can suggest meals, recommend wine pairings and add ingredients to a shopping basket via a single prompt. (bizcommunity.com)
- The assistant draws on over 20 years of Woolworths Taste recipes and will be refined before a broader rollout. (bizcommunity.com)
- Group CEO Sam Ngumeni said food is Woolworths' greatest competitive advantage and cited W. Chef as an example. (bizcommunity.com)
Sources
- [1] bizcommunity.com — originally reported as “Woolies brings AI food assistant W. Chef into live customer testing”
