The name Dallmayr stands for the highest product and service quality with over 300 years of tradition and is one of the best-known German coffee brands. Dallmayr is locally rooted in Munich – and at the same time active worldwide. The company is still family-owned and managed by Wolfgang Wille and Florian Randlkofer – the two personally liable partners. The company is divided into different business areas: Dallmayr coffee, vending & office, delicatessen house, catering, restaurant, café-bistro, as well as mail order and gift service. The head office in Munich is an institution. Dallmayr coffee is one of the leading food brands in Germany. Over 100,000 tons of coffee are roasted annually in its own roasting plants in Germany. The business area is active in a total of 18 countries worldwide. We spoke with Florian Randlkofer about the use of AI at Dallmayr.
Are you already using AI in your company or are you still hesitant?
We use AI in administrative areas such as marketing, sales, or HR. We use it for idea generation or for drafts, which are then refined with the expertise of our employees.
If so, which AI tools do you use or do you also use custom applications?
All tools from OpenAI, DeepL for translations, and for fine-tuning texts, depending on the application, various providers.
Do you allow your employees to use tools like ChatGPT or similar AI applications – e.g. for faster text creation?
Yes, see above. We have defined a selected group of users and are experimenting.
Do you have concerns about using AI?
I think we should see the opportunities rather than fear the risks. I have no concerns about generative AI.
What obstacles and hurdles do you see for companies when using AI?
In short and simplified terms, it is about new skills that an organization must learn. First, the management must understand and competently assess the opportunities and risks of AI and its impact on their own company. Then the right software must be found and possibly adapted. Employees must be trained, and fears possibly reduced. And finally, the software must be consistently used in business operations. These are some steps, and it is partially complex. With the many crises and demands that companies have to face today, it can quickly happen that initiatives such as the introduction of AI are neglected.
Do you have concerns about data protection?
No. I believe that data protection is important. However, I also believe that we often exaggerate data protection and thus prevent a lot of innovation. I think that exaggerated data protection is one of the disadvantages of the location in Germany. And that there is an urgent need to rethink this.
Do you fear that company knowledge will leak out if your team uses AI applications unregulated?
That very much depends on the industry. If it is about proprietary company knowledge in knowledge-based industries or about patents, manufacturing processes, etc., then you must certainly deal with it very intensively. In many companies, however, the value is created by the abilities of the organization, such as high customer centricity or excellent logistics capabilities. These abilities and the value they create are more likely to be found in the employees who work in the company and the respective corporate culture. Therefore: no, generally no fears, but in specific cases, it must be examined.
What do you wish for AI to do better in the future?
I assume that the abilities of AI will improve over the years. The hallucinating will certainly improve, or rather, AI should make the limits of the produced results clear.
