T hey call him “Flippy.” Quietly and diligently, he works seven days a week in the kitchen at a booming new burger establishment in California. In many ways, Flippy is a model employee – he is always on time, never complains, has never taken a personal day and is incredibly productive, delivering an average of 100 burgers per hour with consistency and accuracy. In fact, he’s so good at his job that he has been called a “ninja” in the kitchen, commands a $100,000 price tag and has what could only be described as his own fan club. So, what is it about this incredible short-order cook that has diners literally lining up to catch a glimpse of him in action? Put simply, Flippy is no ordinary chef – he’s a robot. And he’s part of a cutting edge movement within the foodservice industry. Welcome to the age of automation. It’s important to note that while automation is as old as the industrial revolution, it is by no means universal in either its definition or application. For example, factories have employed automation to mass-produce everything from automobiles and electronics to dinnerware and household appliances. The foodservice industry, on the other hand, has embraced a different aspect of it. Perhaps the most obvious example is also one of the earliest – the dawn of online ordering and delivery apps. Restaurants of all types ranging from fast food to national chains have utilized online options along with apps like DoorDash and UberEats to provide convenience, accuracy and privacy to customers while allowing operators to better utilize their workforce. But that was then. Now, what began as a mobile experiment has evolved into an explosion of technological innovation. Just how big has that explosion been? If recent developments are any indication, the impact has been tremendous. In Boston, Spyce has captured the attention of the culinary world with what just might be the world’s first entirely robotic kitchen. A brainchild conceived by MIT graduates, the restaurant features quick-service bowl meals for
diners on the go, with its sole kitchen employee consisting of a nine-foot long, 14 foot wide machine that does all of the cooking with ingredients already prepared by a small offsite human staff. Over on the west coast, Burger Restaurant Creator in San Francisco goes a step further, with ingredients prepared, cooked and assembled entirely by a fully- automated kitchen. But robots have slowly been taking on a greater role in the front of the house as well. Well-established national chains like Panera now offer the option to order at in-house electronic kiosks where diners can simply scroll through the menu, select their items, pay and then take a seat while keeping an eye on a screen that tells them when their order is ready for pickup. Or in what could be considered a reboot of the concept first pioneered and popularized by Chuck E. Cheese, robots are now serving as entertainment for guests. Junkichi in Seattle introduces diners to SOTA, a small robotic companion that can speak with the help of a downloadable app and can speak words or phrases that diners text to it. SOTA also waves its arms on occasion to draw attention and additionally features facial recognition for repeat customers who register online via Facebook or Google. Entertainment and convenience aside, there are other advantages. Perhaps the biggest perk of automation is one that rarely aligns for both consumers and operators – cost. Diners benefit from reduced menu prices while owners save money on overhead and operating costs. After all, robots don’t get sick, don’t need to take breaks and perhaps best of all for employers – robots don’t quit in the middle of a shift, providing much needed relief for increasing rates of turnover within foodservice. In addition, robotic kitchens can be programmed to provide precise measurements, cook time and assembly instructions, all of which lead to further cost savings on equipment and food supplies that might otherwise go to waste or suffer from a shorter lifespan due to improper use. But just like any other industry or innovative
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