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Metafoodx – Using AI Tracking, Consumption-
Fengmin Gong
CEO and Co-
Metafoodx
Contact
Name: Fengmin Gong
Phone: 408-
Email: fengmin.gong@metafoodx.com
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine
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Published – September 28, 2026
CEOCFO: Mr. Gong, according to the Metafoodx website, your mission is to “revolutionize the global food system.” What is your approach?
Mr. Gong: Foodservice has long been seen, unfairly, as backbreaking work. That is the business view. If you look at it through the lens of feeding people and helping businesses sustain themselves and reduce their environmental impact, it is a big challenge, and it has been like that for a long time.
Once I realized how big the problem was, my problem-
The first problem we need to solve is visibility. Visibility, combined with technology that does the heavy lifting of spotting patterns, tells operators what to do. That enables people. Foodservice professionals have been at this for a long time. They know a lot of best practices, and they have the wisdom to know what they should do and what they would like to do.
One of the biggest bottlenecks today is that they don't have the help they need to monitor what is really happening in their food operation. They lack visibility into what was bought, what was produced, how much was consumed, and how much went to waste, and why. Every pan that goes to waste is food cost the operation already paid for, plus the labor to prepare it.
CEOCFO: It seems like a massive undertaking. How did you know where to start?
Mr. Gong: Foodservice operators already know they need to do some kind of planning or forecasting. The question is, where do they get the data? Most kitchens still forecast from past production or purchasing, not from what people actually ate. We realized that the key is consumption-
CEOCFO: Has the industry been looking for a better way, particularly a way involving technology, or do they need some convincing?
Mr. Gong: When we started, we got very good adoption. We launched the current version of our product in 2024 at the National Restaurant Association Show. Very quickly we had production deployments at UMass Amherst and Pomona College, and we have since added more customers. University and campus dining programs are at the forefront of seeking the best quality. Universities are leading not only in food and flavor but also in this practice. That is where we got started.
Other segments, like hotels, have a more complex decision-
That approach looked at the very end, when food waste goes to the trash or recycling. At Metafoodx, we want to prevent food waste at the source by stopping overproduction from the start. That is the most efficient way, and many people recognize it, but putting it into practice is where the industry has been lacking.
CEOCFO: How does an organization implement your technology?
Mr. Gong: The key is visibility: accurate, item-
Making onboarding as effortless as possible was one hurdle we had to clear. We developed an AI solution, including local AI capability, that lets a kitchen operation be onboarded without producing tens of thousands of images for training. The traditional computer vision approach, which needs a large image library for every dish, does not work here. Once you solve that problem, everything else is easy.
Today, our solution requires no pre-
CEOCFO: What is your geographical range; where are your customers?
Mr. Gong: Most of our customers are colleges and universities, which tend to be open-
We are also working with corporate dining programs, where operators run high-
Our next sector for deployment is hotels and resorts. They are a natural fit because so much of their food goes out through buffets and banquets. That is where much of the food waste in hospitality starts. Those formats are built on producing extra to keep pans full, and without data it is hard to know how much is too much. Item-
The newest sector we are entering is cruise lines. We have learned that cruise lines face a big challenge, starting with the volume. They have a very strict process, including how to handle cruise ship food waste and organic waste at sea. Before bringing the Metafoodx AI Scanner on board, we tested it at sea to make sure it performs as conditions on the ship change. A kitchen on a moving ship is a very different environment from one on land, and the scanner has to hold up to that. Ships also have to stock food for days at a time between ports, so every pan that is overproduced is food they carried on board and now have to dispose of under those strict rules. Preventing overproduction at the source reduces both the food cost and the waste they have to manage at sea. And because cruise galleys serve buffets, main dining rooms, and specialty venues on the same ship, a portable scanner that fits into different workflows makes a real difference. We are very excited and engaged with a number of cruise lines.
CEOCFO: Are most of your customers in the United States?
Mr. Gong: Most of our customers are in the US. We also have customers in Canada and South America.
CEOCFO: Is it easier to get a foot in the door in the US, or does it just depend on the type of organization?
Mr. Gong: In the US, it mainly comes down to logistics: shipping and whether we have local support. Language is also easier. We already support Spanish in those regions, so the technology is easier to deploy. We are a small startup based in San Jose. As we identify opportunities and add local partners, we will expand further internationally.
CEOCFO: Are you seeking funding and investments as you grow?
Mr. Gong: Yes, as we grow. Right now we are still small, with 16 people. In this space, people are just realizing that we are a pioneering solution for AI in the commercial kitchen. Some investors understand, but many lack the domain expertise to understand this space. My strategy is to always keep a dialogue open with investors, but in terms of timing, our Series A engagement will likely come within the next year. Right now we are focusing on scaling our deployments with new customers.
CEOCFO: What has changed in your approach since you started with this project, and what have you learned from customer feedback to help you improve?
Mr. Gong: We are still solving the same problem, but we made two significant adjustments based on what we learned from operators.
The first was about who we serve. When we started, we were looking at tracking consumption down to the individual diner in self-
That is where operators taught us the most. Some operations are self-
That learning led us to our current AI-
The bigger lesson is that the technology has to adapt to the kitchen, not the other way around. To solve operators' problems and take the heavy lifting off their teams, from daily tracking to planning, we design the form factor to fit their environment. We keep that feedback loop going with every new customer.
CEOCFO: What have you learned over time about how to present what you are offering?
Mr. Gong: Food operations are so complex. You have chefs and operations directors, and the end goal is the same: delicious food, less waste, and good feelings. But they each have a slightly different lens on what they need help with. Add to that the operating model. At universities, maybe 50% are self-
CEOCFO: What else should our readers understand about Metafoodx?
Mr. Gong: Overall, we are glad to be helping foodservice operations prevent food waste and improve their processes and quality. Metafoodx has the first working, validated solution providing a trusted AI data layer for back-
Look at what AI has done for other professions in the last few years. Software developers use it to write and review code. Marketers use it to draft and analyze. Doctors use it to handle documentation so they can spend more time with patients. In each case, AI takes on the repetitive work, and people focus on the parts of the job that need their skill and judgment. Foodservice professionals should have the same kind of help, but kitchen technology has been slower to catch up. Chefs and kitchen managers still spend hours counting, logging, and planning with spreadsheets and clipboards. AI can take over that work, so they have more time for food quality, their teams, and their guests.
Most AI tools today live on a screen. A commercial kitchen is a physical environment, and AI can only help there if it can see what is actually being produced, served, and thrown away. That is why the data layer matters. Once a kitchen has accurate data, AI can start doing real work.
This is where agentic AI comes in. Metafoodx already uses it in our Agentic Integration Helper, which automates the work of connecting our data to the systems kitchens already use. Over time, AI agents will take on more of the daily workflow, such as flagging overproduction, recommending production quantities for the next menu cycle, and handling the reporting that pulls staff away from the kitchen. The people stay in charge, and the AI does the heavy lifting.
Our ambition is to become a critical part of the infrastructure for applying AI in commercial kitchens, producing impact beyond content generation and dialogue. That is what more foodservice operators are starting to ask for, and we believe it is the true transformation of the foodservice system. We want people who learn about us to contact us and see the real system in deployment. It will open their eyes to all the possibilities and the ways we can help them.
Metafoodx | Food Waste Tracking Software | Fengmin Gong | Commercial Kitchen Food Waste Tracking | Restaurant Food Waste Prevention | Metafoodx – Using AI Tracking, Consumption-