Why Restaurant Owners Now Anticipate Deploying Robots; Defining Professionals

According to the National Restaurant Association in the United States, almost two-thirds of restaurant operators have a manpower shortage that aids them in doing business.

 

Several industries, including warehouses, manufacturing, food delivery, and even restaurants, have made a number of automation predictions for 2022. This is primarily due to the fact that operation managers are finding it challenging to deal with decreasing personnel numbers and rising compensation. Experts believe it will be a number of years before robots replace humans in eateries.

 

Several major US-based restaurant chains, such as Sweetgreen, are planning to automate salad preparation in at least two of their locations. Chipotle Mexican Grill is preparing to test whether robots can make tortilla chips in its stores, and Starbucks wants its coffee-making machines to reduce baristas’ workload. In an exclusive interview with CNBC, David Henkes, a partner at restaurant research company Technomic, said, “I believe a lot of experimentation will eventually take us someplace, but we’re still a labour-intensive, labour-driven sector.”

Even before the epidemic, restaurants were experiencing difficulties with hiring and retaining personnel, according to the study. Essentially, the global health crisis has exacerbated this problem, since many dismissed workers have departed for other professions and others are still hunting for work. According to the National Restaurant Association in the United States, more than two-thirds of restaurant owners have a labor shortage, which hinders their ability to operate. This was the circumstance that prompted automation firms to propose solutions. These firms claimed that robots can produce pizzas and burgers with more precision than humans.

 

Using artificial intelligence, computers can handle drive-through orders more efficiently. Miso Robotics, which has funded $108 million as of November and is valued at $523 million, according to Pitchbook and CNBC, made the major automation announcement this year. The innovative invention is the Flippy robot, which can cook burgers and chicken wings and, most crucially, can be hired by restaurant operators for $3,000 per month.

 

White Castle’s burger castle has already used Flippy in four of its restaurants and has committed to adding this technology to 100 more locations. Meanwhile, Chipotle Mexican Grill is already testing the “Chippy” tortilla chip-making equipment. Miso CEO Mike Bell told CNBC that the most valuable advantage his company brings to restaurants is not the reduction of their expenditures, but rather the ability to sell more and create a profit. The bakery giant Panera Bread is also experimenting with automation, using AI software so that it can accept drive-thru orders and a Miso system that regulates the amount and temperature of coffee in order to improve its quality.

 

In an interview with CNBC, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said, “The concept of robotics and all those things, although excellent for generating headlines, is impractical in the overwhelming majority of restaurants. The economics do not add up… You won’t see it as a widespread answer any time soon.”

 

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