AI Tech Company Nala Robotics Signs Expansion Deal with Slice Factory Pizza Chain

Nala Robotics, an AI technology company revolutionizing the culinary industry, today announced it will supply Chicago-based Slice Factory with its autonomous chef, Pizzaiolaä, a multi-cuisine, voice-controlled pizza maker that also cooks pasta, burgers, wings, as well as prepares salads.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nala Robotics will custom design and install Pizzaiola at Slice Factory's newest locations to help fuel national expansion efforts. The pizza chain, which operates 12 locations in Chicago and surrounding the suburbs, has laid out an aggressive expansion plan...

Refraction AI Tests Autonomous Delivery at Two Chick-fil-A® Restaurants in Austin, TX

Refraction AI, a last-mile, autonomous robot delivery company, announced today it has deployed a fleet of its self-driving vehicles to provide energy-efficient meal deliveries at two Chick-fil-A restaurants located in downtown Austin, Texas. Refraction's innovative approach to last-mile delivery makes the cost, safety and sustainability benefits of self-driving technology available today by serving the rapidly growing demand for goods delivery across multiple categories.

Refraction's Robot-as-a-Service platform combines self-driving technology, tele-operations and a delivery...

4 Major Trends in Food Carryout and Delivery

Many consumers have reported using more food carryout and delivery compared to pre-pandemic behavior. In 2021, U.S. food carryout and delivery sales reached $694 billion due in part to the impact of the pandemic, which helped drive the demand for convenient foods eaten at home, as detailed in Food Carryout and Delivery in the U.S., 2nd Edition by Packaged Facts. The report describes a variety of unique food delivery and carryout trends to watch, including those highlighted below.

1. Continued Elevated Use Of Food Carryout And Delivery
Food carryout and...

Wing Zone Partners with Miso Robotics

Today, Wing Zone – one of the nation's leading fast-casual brands serving made-to-order flavor-packed chicken wings – announced a partnership with Miso Robotics – the company transforming the restaurant industry with robotics and intelligent automation – to make Flippy 2 a part of the chain's standard build for all future restaurant locations. Wing Zone is the first fast-casual brand in the world to spec food robotics into its operations at this level.

"With over 100 new shops in our current development pipeline, our technology roadmap relies heavily on strategic partnerships with companies like..."

Remy Robotics Exits Stealth Mode with Launch of Third Autonomous Robotic Kitchen

Remy Robotics, a food technology startup leading the disruption of delivery-only restaurants through the use of adaptive robotics and culinary engineering, today exited stealth mode with the opening of a third autonomous robotic kitchen. With over 60,000 robot-cooked dishes sold and top customer ratings across all major delivery apps, Remy Robotics is now ready to expand its delivery-only restaurant business with more brands and more locations. The company's successful track record means it is now ready to offer its autonomous robotic kitchen platform to other...

Walmart and Symbotic Expand Partnership to Implement Industry-Leading Automation System

Symbotic LLC, a revolutionary A.I.-powered supply chain technology company, and Walmart Inc. announced an expanded commercial agreement to implement Symbotic’s robotics and software automation platform in all 42 of Walmart’s regional distribution centers over the coming years. This is an expansion of Walmart’s prior commitment to deploy Symbotic Systems in 25 regional distribution centers.

The end-to-end software-enabled high-density robotics platform plays a strategic role in supporting the retailer’s goal of modernizing its vast supply chain network and allows Walmart to transform its regional distribution...

Chipotle Launches $50 Million Venture Fund to Foster Innovation

Chipotle is launching a $50 million venture fund.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is hoping to revolutionize the restaurant industry.

The quick-service restaurant chain announced the launch of Cultivate Next, a venture fund that will support seed-to-Series B stage companies that focus on increasing technology and innovation in restaurant operations and align with its mission to “Cultivate a Better World.” The fund will have an initial size of $50 million and will be financed solely by Chipotle.

The fund launch comes as the company is continuing its...

RoboBurger, the World's First Robot Burger Chef in a Vending Machine Format, Launches Nationally

RoboBurger, the world's first fully autonomous robotic burger chef, launched today with a ribbon cutting at the Newport Centre, a Simon Mall in Jersey City, NJ.

This restaurant in miniature cooks restaurant-quality freshly grilled burgers from scratch, and it will soon be heading to airports, malls, colleges, offices, factories, and military bases across the country.

RoboBurger is an artificially intelligent, self-operating, patented kitchen designed to include all the processes of a restaurant at a fraction of the size. It measures 12 square feet, plugs...

Chipotle Tests AI Kitchen Assistant, Chippy

Chipotle Mexican Grill today announced its latest digital innovation, Chippy, an autonomous kitchen assistant that integrates culinary traditions with artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips. Chipotle's culinary and technology teams called on Miso Robotics to customize its latest robotic solution to cook and freshly season Chipotle's delicious tortilla chips.

"We are always exploring opportunities to enhance our employee and guest experience. Our goal is to drive efficiencies through collaborative robotics that will enable Chipotle's crew members to focus on other tasks in the restaurant," said Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer, Chipotle...

Kroger Fulfillment Network Expands to Louisville, Kentucky

The Kroger Co., America's largest grocery retailer, today announced it will offer more Americans delivery through the addition of a spoke facility in Louisville, Kentucky powered by the Ocado Group and combining vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics to provide an affordable, friendly, and fast fresh food delivery service as part of the company's seamless ecosystem.

"We're proud to expand the Kroger fulfillment network to Louisville," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. "The new service is an innovative addition to the expanding digital shopping experience available to..."

Grubhub Launches Robot Delivery at the University of Arizona

Grubhub, the leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform on college campuses, announced today that it's deploying Yandex Self-Driving Group's robot delivery technology, also called rovers, on the University of Arizona's campus. This will be the second campus rolling out this delivery option from Grubhub and Yandex this fall, following Ohio State University.

More than 35,000 Wildcats will be able to order their favorite foods from on-campus dining locations – including IQ Fresh, Einstein Bros Bagels, On Deck Deli and Sabor – via the Grubhub app and have it...

2022: The Year of the Climb

If 2020 and 2021 were the years that emphasized uncertainty, 2022 will be the year the foodservice industry focuses on new, ingenious solutions to head off challenges on multiple fronts. As operators across channels essentially do more with fewer resources, they’ll seek out strategies and partnerships that will help them innovate around menu shortages, labor constraints and the ever-shifting expectations and needs of the consumer.

What are some of the trends on the horizon for 2022, from the state of the industry and operations to menu optimization and enhancing the guest experience...