In response to increased labor costs, the food industry is investing more in automated restaurants. The road to cafes run by robots has been a bumpy and expensive ride. However, have all these efforts brought us any closer to the dining experience of the future?
This is the progress restaurateurs have made so far…
Expense of Bringing Robots into the Kitchen
Right now in New York City, you can get vegan fast-food alternatives prepared entirely by robots. The automated restaurant is called Kernel and was created by Chipotle founder, Steve Ells.
Ells is an early adopter of robotics in the kitchen. As a result, he has invested two years and millions of dollars into “Flippy,” Kernel’s bionic fry cook.
Similarly, Chipotle put $100 million into tech company, Hyphen, to create machines to cut up avocados and make tortilla chips.
Of course, Steve Ells’s eateries are not the only ones shelling out cash to perfect automation.
LOS ANGELES SALAD-SLINGERS, SWEETGREEN, DROPPED $50 MILLION ON TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE MECHANIZED VEGGIE SHOOTERS!
All that said, this is a lot of capital and R&D being put into making automated restaurants a workable concept. So…
Is it paying off?
The “Technical Difficulties” of Automated Restaurants
As far as fully realizing the “human-free” diner, it hasn’t come to fruition yet. Further, some chains are pulling out of the robotics game altogether.
The most notable example is McDonald’s eliminating AI software from their drive-thru lanes. The decision was made after artificial intelligence made high levels of mistakes in customer orders.
The Golden Arches’s CEO, Chris Kempczinski, made this statement regarding automated restaurants…
“WE’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, MONEY, EFFORT, LOOKING AT THIS, AND THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE A SILVER BULLET THAT GOES AND ADDRESSES THIS FOR THE INDUSTRY.”
Via The Wall Street Journal
With that in mind, the progress is slow and riddled with short-circuits. But restaurateurs like Ells still are pushing the initiative forward.
Chipotle is looking to integrate their “Autocado” robot into stores later this year.
Be Great,
GCTV Staff
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