Unpacking the automated restaurant trend.
“Technology, through automation and artificial intelligence, is definitely one of the most disruptive sources.” ~Alain Dehaze.
Soaring costs and labour shortages are the twin problems that all of us have experienced in the last couple of years as the business world, and the real world, emerged blinking from the pandemic into a whole new set of global shifts.
For an industry that historically relied on low wages, reasonably priced energy and affordable ingredients to turn a profit, this has had a devastating effect. Even as demand returned, we found ourselves unable to service it.
The world has irreversibly changed. Record numbers of hospitality workers left the industry for better-paid positions elsewhere, and the ones that remain are understandably looking for better treatment, better money, better prospects and better benefits. But with the cost of just about everything else reaching unimaginable highs, how viable is this all going to be?
Solutions are emerging, one of which is the turn to automated restaurant systems.
Are the robots taking over, taking the jobs that were once done by human hands, leading us into a dystopian future where people are surplus to requirement? Or is this actually a pretty nifty answer to our problems?
Those businesses who are already a few steps into automating their restaurants have actually found that it comes replete with benefits, not just for the owner and customers, but for the staff too. Rather than taking their jobs, it’s helping them to do theirs more efficiently, taking on the menial or risky jobs so they can concentrate more firmly on those tasks that need some human soul in them.
Take robotic line cook ‘Flippy’ at America’s White Castle burger chain. Designed by Miso Robotics, Flippy works back-of-house, using AI to recognise food items, cook them and move them over to a hot holding area. It reduces risks to staff by taking on dangerous jobs, can work all night with no breaks required and speeds up service by frying up 60 baskets an hour.
During Beijing’s Winter Olympics which was operating in strict Covid-safe ‘closed loop’ bubbles, it was robots that kept the staff, the athletes and even the spectators fed. This was so well received that Japanese operator Osaka Ohsho is installing their own in their Shanghai branch, saying "They're able to recreate professional-grade flavours”.
Whilst the human cooks focus on making the more complex gyoza and ramen dishes, it will be robots cooking up stir-fried dishes, full of vegetables, liver, garlic, pork and eggs.
Whilst we don’t recommend replacing your whole staff, front and back with robots (we all know that a dining experience can live or die on the great service given), it’s interesting to see just how useful automation can be… and just how advanced it can get. From standardising operations and reducing error, to streamlining service and decreasing labour costs, there’s a lot to be said for a helping hand, human or otherwise.
But in the interest of balance and before we go out and drop our profits on new-fangled technology, it is also worth noting that some of the early start-ups like pizza-robotics restaurant ‘Pazzi’ in Paris have recently shut up shop.
According to Pazzi’s CEO Phillipe Goldman, this was due in part to the ‘‘immature hardware eco-system’’ in France but also interestingly, “a general mistrust of the population towards robotics, condemned to steal only jobs.”
But fear not, robots are not the only ways to elevate your restaurant with seamless solutions. Check out a few other methods below:
● Self-Ordering Kiosks, At Table and Mobile Ordering - Whilst the self-ordering kiosk is more the wheelhouse of the fast food restaurant, ‘at table’ and mobile ordering can be great for sales because there’s a lot less waiting time.
● Drinks Service Automation and Bionic Bartenders - Let your guests get their own drinks with no waiting time. Or use a mixture of robotic arms and conveyor belts to get it to them quickly.
● Point of Sale System - Keep a close eye on inventory, sales and staff hours.
● Checkout System - Take the pain out of waiting for the bill after a good meal. Let the customers do it themselves, in their own time.
Is the future in automation or are diners in the coming years still going to be more interested in a restaurant with that human touch? Let us know over at @wired.fnd
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