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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Restaurant Tech

Remy Robotics Unveils Robotic Ghost Kitchen Platform as It Opens Third Location in Barcelona

Remy Robotics, an automated ghost kitchen startup, came out of stealth this week as it opened its third autonomous robotic kitchen.

Remy, based in Barcelona, creates custom-built robotic kitchens tailored for the food delivery industry. For the past year, the company has been operating two dark kitchens, one in Barcelona and one in Paris, and is opening its third kitchen in Barcelona this week.

Until this point, the company has been delivering food under its own virtual kitchen brands – including a flexitarian food brand called OMG – and has cooked and sold 60 thousand meals. Now, with the launch of its third kitchen, Remy is opening up its kitchens to other restaurant brands. According to the company, its system has the flexibility to install a new robotic kitchen and have it operational in about 48 hours.

If a brand is thinking about launching a new delivery-centric virtual brand with Remy, they shouldn’t expect to use their chefs and employees to make the meals. Remy believes that automated kitchens work better when the food is optimized for robotics from the ground up.

“We maximize what robots can do,” Remy CEO Yegor Traiman told The Spoon in a Zoom interview. “The main mistake of most robotics companies is they’re trying to mimic the human and teach robots how to do the things a human would do.”

Instead, Traiman says that they configured the entire process of food making to be done by robots, developing recipes and cooking techniques based on a variety of parameters, including the shape of Remy’s own packaging and how much moisture is lost during the cooking process. The company claims that their robotic systems decide autonomously how and for how long to cook a dish, based on where a customer lives and how long the delivery will take. They also utilize “computer vision and neural networks” alongside “smart ovens and sensors controlling temperature, moisture, weight and other key parameters.”

“We develop all the equipment,” Traiman said. “Robots, freezers, fridges. Because again, in a world where everything was designed and built by humans, for humans, there is no place for robots. You’re not able to make the system flexible enough.”

A Remy robot-powered ghost kitchen can fit up to ten brands into the same space that one human-powered kitchen can operate, and, according to Traiman, it shouldn’t be a problem adding new partners.

“There is huge interest at the moment in Spain and in France,” Traiman said. “Almost every neighbor at these cloud kitchen facilities a knocking on the door asking ‘guys, can we do something together?'”

The Backbar One Is The Robot Bartender Your Parents Would Approve Of

Here at The Spoon, we’ve seen a bunch of bartender bots over the years. From early efforts like the Bartesian to weird animated robot bartenders, we’ve covered pretty much every new product that automates drink dispensing for home or restaurant.

So when the email came into my inbox about the Backbar One, I figured yet another liquor-loving engineering team had programmed a robot arm to pour drinks and decided to start a company.

Boy was I wrong. From the looks of it, someone’s figured out how to create an automated drink dispenser that fits perfectly into the workflow of a restaurant bar and creates drinks at a high enough volume to handle cocktail duties at the busiest of restaurant chains.

As can be seen in the walkthrough video below, the Backbar One integrates with the restaurant’s existing point of sale system. Once a drink order is put in, it is sent to the Backbar One where the bartender looks at the order, clicks the screen to start the process, drops a glass or shaker down on the conveyor belt, and then the machine automatically starts making the drink. Liquor and other ingredients are added, and the drink is ready in about 10 seconds. The bartender adds the garnish and puts the drink on the server’s tray. According to the company, the Backbar One can make up to 300 drinks per hour.

Backbar One Demo Video

The Backbar One has two storage drawers, including a refrigerated top drawer that has room for 12 containers to hold juices, syrups, mixes, and grenadines. The bottom drawer is where the liquor is stored, with room for 28 1 liter or 750-milliliter bottles.

The Backbar One is the most recent example of a trend I’m beginning to see from the latest generation of foodservice robots targeting high-volume restaurants where the design emphasizes seamless integration into existing service industry employee workflows. Much like the automated makeline of Hyphen or the new Sippy drink-dispensing robot from Miso, the Backbar One just feels like the engineers spent time with restaurant operators when putting together the design concepts. In other words, it seems purpose-built, practical, and useful, something an operator of a single independent restaurant or a chain would want to implement if they wanted to increase the productivity and profitability of their bar.

In short, it’s the bartender bot your parents would approve of, which is probably why food and ag venture firm Finistere Ventures (as well as HAX and others) decided to invest a $3.5 million seed round in the company. From an investment perspective, there are probably lots of drink automation startup pitch decks in circulation right now, but I’m sure the investors saw the market potential for a practical drink-making machine that would likely appeal to the Chili’s and Applebee’s of the world (where, by the way, mom and dad are probably eating right now).

Front Of House Takes an NFT Program to Smaller Restaurants

If you’ve ever taken home a souvenir menu or ashtray from your favorite restaurant, you will understand the role NFTs play in the hospitality industry. The same goes for attending a restaurant theme night or local pop-up of a new dining establishment. As Front of House (FOH) co-founder Phil Toronto eloquently puts it, a restaurant establishing a successful NFT strategy is “a beautiful merging of the digital and physical experience.”

Launching on May 18, Front of House (FOH) is a marketplace for NFTs of digital collectibles and experiences for independent restaurants. Co-founders Phil Toronto (VaynerFund), Colin Camac (former restaurateur), and Alex Ostroff (Saint Urbain) represent a mix of people with backgrounds in digital technology, advertising, and the hospitality industries. Initial clients include Wildair and Dame, with upcoming partners such as Rosella, Niche Niche, and Tokyo Record Bar.

The company’s business model is for the restaurant to keep 80% of the sale of digital collectibles. If an establishment uses a collectible as an invite to a unique dining experience, the restaurant will keep all the money from the food event.

Toronto stresses that FOH’s digital collectibles will be the digital analog to buying swag (such as a sweatshirt or tote bag) from your go-to dining establishment. Over time, he adds, the digital representations can grow to become interactive experiences that can be shared and/or enjoyed as a personal keepsake. “It’s a passport of sorts from your favorite restaurant,” the FOH co-founder told The Spoon in a recent interview.

The early adopters of using NFT as a marketing and sales tool are “scrappy entrepreneurs,” Toronto added, who had to get creative to stay afloat during the pandemic. “The commonality is that every restaurant owner interested in our program is entrepreneurial and looking to go outside the box,” he said.

Marketing and being on the cutting edge are only part of it. The impetus for jumping on board the growing NFT trend is about money. In addition to their regular dining business, an owner can collect revenue from digital collectibles, but the aspect with the most upside is creating memorable dining experiences. A key to all the possibilities is to make it simple for the customer to engage. A key to FOH’s success will be what the co-founder calls creating a frictionless experience, making it a little more than a typical eCommerce check-out experience.

“One of the avenues we’d like to explore is ticketed experiences where Front of House will work with a restaurant to buy it out for the night and have a special ticketed experience,” Toronto said. “That experience is sold through a digital collectible that lives on as a memory and a digital ticket stub you can take.”

Toronto said he is surprised that 65% of the customers he approaches get the idea and understand its value but might have a wait-and-see attitude. Once the pioneers prove NFTs successful and more than a “get rich quick” concept, he believes any reluctance will disappear. Also, Toronto commented that the NFT opportunity for restaurants isn’t limited to New York, Los Angeles, and other coastal towns. Given the hospitality business’s everyday issues, the concept will work just as well for Des Moines or any eatery wanting to explore a new business opportunity.

Wavemaker Launches Wing Zone Labs, a Roboticized Rethink of The Popular Chicken Wing Franchise

Today Wavemaker Labs and Wing Zone announced the launch of Wing Zone Labs, a roboticized rethink of the popular chicken wing franchise.

Under the franchise agreement, Wavemaker will have exclusive rights to the Southern California region and has plans to open up to twenty locations in the coming years. According to the announcement, the new Wing Zone Labs will “focus on driving innovation for the company, helping Wing Zone restaurants unlock their full potential with end-to-end automation.”

It’s an interesting approach, one that goes beyond a traditional franchise agreement but falls short of a joint venture. The deal looks like Wing Zone has largely offloaded the financial risk to Wavemaker, who, in a sense, is offloading their financial risk by raising capital through equity crowdfunding. Wavemaker is no stranger to raising funds through equity crowdfunding, as that’s how it (and spinouts like Miso Robotics) have typically raised capital.

Of course, the ability to launch twenty new restaurants will depend on whether the company can raise the funding. The overall equity crowdfunding market has continued to grow over the past few years, but it’s unclear what persistent inflation and what could be a potential recession on the horizon will do to investor appetites.

Regardless, it will also be interesting to watch if Wing Zone begins to implement automation in stores outside of the Southern California market. The announcement makes clear Wavemaker’s new initiative will be the driving force behind automation efforts at Wing Zone, and if the restaurant chain sees positive results with Labs they may begin to encourage other franchisees to consider the use of robotics.

Sweetgreen’s New Takeout-Only Location Is a Logical Landing Spot For Spyce’s Kitchen Robots

This morning, Sweetgreen announced they are opening their first pickup-only location in Washington DC’s Mt. Vernon Square neighborhood. Opening on August 1st, the new location will not have any dine-in seating, will feature shelves for pickup and delivery, and all food production will be hidden from sight behind the shelving system.

My first thought upon seeing the digital renderings of the new restaurant was it reminded a lot me of Eatsa’s spare tech-forward front-of-house. My second thought was maybe Sweetgreen has robot aspirations for the back of house like Eatsa once did.

A quick refresher to understand my line of thinking. Spoon readers may remember that Eatsa’s original vision included not only an automat-like front of house with rows of cubbies and ordering kiosks, but also included a long-term plan to roboticize the back of house. They even received a patent for a fully-automated food assembly system last year.

And then last year, Sweetgreen made a fairly surprising acquisition when they scooped up robotic restaurant startup Spyce. Surprising because just the year before, the company layed off its technology team, including the company’s head of automation.

Since that acquisition, Sweetgreen has closed the remaining Spyce branded restaurants and redeployed the Spyce team to work on solutions for Sweetgreen’s own restaurants. At the time of the deal, Sweetgreen said Spyce’s automation technology will allow its workers to focus more on customer service, expand its menu into warm foods, and make meal preparation more consistent.

With all that in mind, it makes one wonder if the new restaurant format is a logical landing place for Spyce’s automation technology. With a completely digital order flow, small kitchen footprint, and the design flexibility a completely new store format gives them, it makes sense that Sweetgreen might see its new pickup-only location as the perfect place to deploy Spyce’s kitchen robot technology.

Of course, this is all pure speculation, and there’s a good chance Sweetgreen might just stick with their traditional kitchens with humans doing the bulk of the cooking. But with the company’s founders’ original vision of creating a tech company that serves food, this new restaurant format might provide them just the opportunity they are looking for to put the robot business they acquired last year to good use.

Jack in the Box Pilot Testing Fryer & Drink Station Robots

Today Miso Robotics and Jack in the Box announced a pilot test of robotic fryer and drink fulfillment systems. The new trial, which will take place in the San Diego market, will utilize the Flippy 2 and the Sippy product lines from Miso Robotics.

“This collaboration with Miso Robotics is a steppingstone for our back-of-house restaurant operations,” Jack in the Box COO Tony Darden said in the release. “We are confident that this technology will be a good fit to support our growing business needs with intentions of having a positive impact on our operations while promoting safety and comfort to our team members.”

The Flippy 2 will be used to automate the fryer station to cook up curly fries, tacos, chicken nuggets, and other fried food. The Sippy will automate cup dispensing and beverage filling and top the drinks with an airtight drink seal (think boba drinks) rather than the typical plastic lid.

While most coverage of Miso focuses on the Flippy, the addition of the Sippy robot could also bring significant changes to a chain like Jack in the Box. Not only would the robot drink dispenser speed up drive-thru operations (how many times have you waited for your drink to be filled sitting in your car?), but the Sippy could help get rid of all those plastic drink lids. With a wider deployment, Jack in the Box could eliminate tons of waste annually.

You can watch a demo video of how the Sippy works below:

The chain’s addition of robotics isn’t all that surprising since the Jack in the Box CFO tipped his hand last November. Addressing the stress that labor costs are putting on the business, Tim Mullany said that Jack in the Box is exploring the use of automation as a potential solution.

“We’re working on robotics, particularly at the fry station, and we’ll have a test underway shortly and we’re optimistic about what that has for us in the long term. We’re also looking at automated drink machines as far as pulling labor out of the system. These technologies are things that, in our analysis, could be fairly meaningful when we look at the economic model in the long term and across the system,” he said.

While today’s announcement is just the latest in a steady stream of news about major chains launching robotics pilots, the fact that it’s Jack in the Box makes it particularly noteworthy. We’ve seen White Castle and Caliburger dabbling in robotic back of houses, but with over two thousand locations in North America, Jack is by far the biggest fast-food chain to run a robotics trial. I am sure both Burger King and Mcdonald’s are watching closely to see how the trial goes and whether Jack decides to implement a phase 2 wider rollout.

And no matter what such a phase 2 looks like – whether it’s adding automation to new stores only or a wider chain-wide rollout – going beyond the pilot stage would be a significant admission by one of the country’s most recognized burger chains that automation will play a big role in their future.

Ghost Kitchen Startup Hungry House Partners With JOKR, Omsom and Others For Season Two

Hungry House, a ghost kitchen startup based in New York City, announced today it has formed a partnership with 10-minute delivery startup JOKR to distribute chef-created meals around New York City.

The company, founded by Zuul alum Kristen Barnett, announced the news today as part of the launch of its “season two,” which also includes news of new featured chefs and other partnerships. The deal is interesting in that JOKR and other ultra-fast grocery apps are where customers generally order shelf-stable packaged goods and maybe a little fresh produce. Under this new partnership, JOKR users will now be able to order fresh meals designed by chefs and cooked up in Hungry House’s facilities.

Speaking of facilities, Hungry House also announced an expansion beyond its first location in Brooklyn. Working with “nightlife experts” the No Thing Group, the company will open up a new multi-purpose location in Manhattan’s West Village. After Hungry House serves takeout and delivery out of the ghost kitchen during the day, No Thing Group will transform the new location “into a destination for craft cocktails” in the evening.

Hungry House also announced new chef partners, including salad-making Instagram star Pierce Abernathy and NYC chef Tony Ortiz. Hungry House is also partnering with Omsom, the red-hot DTC brand that sells starter kits for authentic Asian food. Hungry House chef Woldy Reyes will cook up a Tofu Sisig Bowl in the kitchen using Omsom’s sauces. According to Barnett, Omsom is just the first of what promises to be more CPG brand partnerships.

Reading Hungry House’s announcement was like reading down a checklist of restaurant tech trends in recent years and checking almost every box. Ghost kitchen that taps into the viral success of online culinary influencers and emerging CPG brands? Check. Partnering with ultra-fast grocery delivery unicorn? Check. Rethinking how to use kitchen and restaurant spaces to monetize in new ways? Check. All Hungry House needed to do was add a kitchen robot to cook up meals and they could have covered nearly every square on the restaurant tech bingo card.

It looks like we’ll have to wait for that in season 3.

Three Ways Self-Ordering Technology is Revolutionizing Top QSRs (Sponsored Post)

The labor shortage, a facet of the post-pandemic economy, hurt the restaurant industry across verticals as more businesses were forced to close their doors to account for the lack of employees. However, restaurants that embraced self-ordering technology fared better throughout the pandemic, as self-ordering technology positively impacted revenue, franchising, and restaurant design.

This is evidenced by top QSRs that meet consumers where they want to order– be it online, at a kiosk, or using a tableside QR code. Franchises are increasingly relying on technology to automate operations and drive business success in their restaurants. Incorporating technology, such as the Samsung kiosk powered by GRUBBRR, digital menu boards, and online ordering into your restaurant design can have numerous long-term benefits.

Bhavin Asher, founder and CTO of GRUBBRR, a leading self-ordering technologies company, explained, “the pandemic made it clear that the restaurants with automation are most poised to stay open because they meet consumers where they want to order. With demand for omnichannel dining increasing, the restaurants that integrate their physical and digital channels will perform best.”

Increase Earnings

Based on an analysis of several restaurant brands’ Q4 earnings reports, it is clear that automation is the key to long-term success. Chipotle’s Q4 earnings and 2021 results demonstrate this point. The results for the full year 2021 show that digital sales grew 24.7% to $3.4 billion and represented 45.6% of total sales.

In other words, about half of all orders at Chipotle were from order ahead digital transactions, and as such the brand has focused their efforts on growing this segment of the business. This showcases that the industry shift towards digitization directly results in increased sales and revenue. QSR’s like Chipotle are benefitting from new technologies and digitization, and this trend is not new within the restaurant industry.

Chipotle Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol credits the use of automation for his company’s success. “Moving forward, we believe expanding access and convenience through our digital ecosystem, accelerating unit growth, and continuing to develop and support our restaurant employees, will put us in a much stronger competitive position,” Niccol said.

Chipotle has also changed its business model to focus more on drive-thrus. It estimates that greater than 80% of new restaurants will have a “Chipotlane,” including their 3,000th restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. Chipotlanes offer higher revenue margins than a traditional Chipotle make-line and dining room. Consumers spend on average 12%-20% more when they order with their eyes and with touch from a self-ordering device than when ordering from a cashier.

Strengthen Franchising

For franchisors looking to expand, technology presents a unique opportunity to entice franchisees and strengthen the brand image. One of the first and most obvious benefits of implementing technology, such as the Samsung kiosk powered by GRUBBRR, for franchisors is strengthening the restaurant brand. In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, consumers are likely to experience your brand through digital touchpoints before setting foot in a physical location. And, when they do experience your brand at a physical location, it is imperative that the experience is similar to that of your digital brand.

Consistency is key to developing the brand and building a customer base when establishing a restaurant. Your loyal customers trust your brand and expect a high level of consistency and customer experience no matter which location they visit. By introducing new Samsung kiosk technology at one franchise location, you’re implicitly promising that they can enjoy it at every location.

The Samsung kiosk powered by GRUBBRR allows restaurants to streamline efficiency, leading to a reduction in average transaction time. By rolling out this technology across locations, franchisees are set up for success, as self-ordering technology is proven to increase revenue, decrease operating costs (including labor spending), and improve the customer experience.

For instance, the average cost of a cashier at a quick service restaurant that is open 15 hours per day. With all  associated carrying costs, this position will cost more than $6,000 per month. On the other hand, the Samsung kiosk powered by GRUBBRR is a fraction of that price. In addition, kiosks always show up, don’t call in sick, and are ready to work 24/7.

Improve Restaurant Design

Like many chains, Shake Shack’s Q4 earnings success demonstrated an opening of the digital funnel. Shake Shack’s willingness to abandon its traditional business model and embrace technology, including multi-channel delivery, enhanced digital pre-ordering, and expanding fulfillment capabilities, enabled digital sales to grow at a rapid rate.

Shake Shack’s latest innovation, “Shack Track,” is a tech-forward restaurant that centers on pick-up shelves, windows, and curbside. “The need to enhance and alter the physical restaurant to meet the needs of digital is so important to Shake Shack that today, nearly all new restaurants we open have some aspect of Shack Track,” said CFO Katie Fogertey.

For Shake Shack, the results of embracing technology are astounding. In one example, Shake Shack units with self-ordering kiosks saw 75% of sales come through that channel as well as digital. “We have had to be and will continue to be strategic with our investments, but most importantly, we will continue to invest in digital initiatives to help welcome more guests into our omnichannel,” Fogertey said.

Restaurants that embraced self-ordering technology fared better throughout the pandemic, as self-ordering technology positively impacted revenue, franchising, and restaurant design.

“Technology, and specifically self-automated technology that meets the customers at the point of sale, has been a major boon for many restaurants since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Asher. “Now, we see the positive effects of technology reflected in new restaurant prototype designs, with many incorporating kiosks, online ordering, and tableside. That is why GRUBBRR partners with tech-forward companies like Samsung to help restaurants to create a customer experience design of the future.”

This post is sponsored by GRUBBRR. To learn more about Samsung’s self-ordering kiosks powered by GRUBBRR, click here.

McDonald’s Resistance to Ice Cream Machine Fix Strikes Discordant Note Amidst Chain’s Tech Stack Modernization Push

You know how they say it’s not what you know, but who you know? That’s doubly true if you’re trying to insert yourself into McDonald’s technology supplier network.

Just ask Kytch, a company that makes a device that fixes the burger giant’s perpetually broken ice cream machines. You’d think that McDonald’s would welcome such a fix since, after all, their ice cream machines are broken so often they’ve become meme-worthy.

Apparently not, as illustrated by the burger chain’s orchestrated email campaign warning franchisees to stay away from Kytch, claiming it violated the machinery’s warranty, intercepted confidential info, and suggested the device was dangerous to operators since it has a remote operation function. McDonald’s also used the email campaign to promote a new ice cream machine from Taylor (the manufacturer of the oft-broken machines), which promised to have similar remote management features as the Kytch appliance.

According to Kytch, the McDonald’s email campaign killed their business and severely hobbled plans to launch an entire line of connected kitchen products for pro kitchens.

From Wired:

Kytch cofounder Melissa Nelson says the emails didn’t just result in McDonald’s ice cream machines remaining broken around the world. They also kneecapped Kytch’s fast-growing sales just as the startup was taking off. “They’ve tarnished our name. They scared off our customers and ruined our business. They were anti-competitive. They lied about a product that they said would be released,” Nelson says. “McDonald’s had every reason to know that Kytch was safe and didn’t have any issues. It was not dangerous, like they claimed. And so we’re suing them.”

Kytch ended up suing Taylor last May for stealing trade secrets (according to the suit, Taylor worked with a franchisee to obtain a Kytch gadget and copy some features) and, just this month, the startup filed suit against McDonald’s.

So why would McDonald’s wage a war on something that, from all appearances, makes their customers’ and franchise operators’ lives better?

One reason could be that the chain earnestly believes the machine’s remote turn-on capabilities really do create a safety hazard. However, those concerns should have been eliminated once Kytch’s machine achieved UL certification.

Another possibility is that the device interfered with the steady revenue stream from Taylor’s maintenance contracts, which make up about a quarter of the equipment company’s revenue. I’m more inclined to believe this could be partially responsible for McDonald’s hesitancy, especially if Taylor had promised a new machine with some of the features of the Kytch.

Whatever the reason, the Kytch-McDonald’s kerfuffle illustrates how the chain’s internal motivations aren’t always aligned with that of their customers or franchisees when it comes to doing what’s best from a technology perspective. And this isn’t the first time the company’s technology management has struck a discordant note with franchise operators. Last year the chain’s franchisees pushed back against the chain’s high fees and centralized command and control of technology deployment. In the case of Kytch, it’s this very same rigid control of technology deployment that is robbing franchisees of a solution that one franchise operator said saved him “easily thousands of dollars a month” from lost revenue and repair fees.”

In their defense, McDonald’s has been working hard in recent years to upgrade their franchisees’ tech stack, including acquiring AI-powered personalization startup Dynamic Yield. Still, with all that investment in futuristic kitchen tech, you’d think the burger chain would want to make sure something as basic as a McFlurry-making appliance would work well, even if it meant embracing a fix from an upstart.

Q&A: The Spoon Talks With DoorDash’s Tom Pickett About Why The Delivery Giant Acquired Bbot

Earlier today, DoorDash announced they had acquired Bbot, a maker of order & pay software solutions. We sat down with DoorDash’s chief revenue officer Tom Pickett to hear about the thinking behind the deal. Answers have been edited slightly for clarity.

What motivated you to do this acquisition?

We’ve been watching this space over the course of the last year, and we’ve seen it evolve from this contactless solution to something that we feel is going to be a core part of what restaurants use going forward. In a similar way, online ordering wasn’t that big of a thing before COVID, but as COVID happened and digital commerce started to become a more important thing for the restaurant, we accelerated efforts and built our Storefront product and that’s now part of the arsenal for any restaurant. And so we think the same thing is starting to happen with digital ordering. I’d say we’re still in the early side of that, but we see the same trends, and we want to get ahead of it and make that easy for restaurants to be able to adopt.

Do you plan to sunset the Bbot name and replace that with DoorDash eventually?

We haven’t made final decisions on that yet, so for now, it’s still Bbot.

Anyone who’s gone into a restaurant with any degree of frequency over the past six months has had the option to pay at the table. That just seems like it’s the frequency that is just going up and up and it makes it much more convenient for the customer. I think the waiter is probably pretty happy with that as well.

From the waitstaff perspective, Bbot has told us that there’s more leverage in the model. So waiters can handle more tables and, in the end, that translates to more tips. So the waitstaff generally is happy with this type of solution. The restaurant management staff is generally happy because they can handle more demand.

And what we’ve also found is that customers tend to order more when they have access to a digital solution. That could be just because of the latency of having to wait for a waiter, and if the customer wants to order that extra drink, they can just go ahead and pull it up on their phone and order that. But the ticket size tends to go up with a digital solution.

What will (Bbot CEO) Steve Simoni’s role be post-acquisition?

Steve will be joining our product organization and he will be leading our digital in-store solutions that we continue to build. The first step is we want to integrate the Bbot solution into our broader technology stack. He’ll be driving that. And this will become part of our broader suite; if you think about Storefront, plus digital online, plus a digital in-store ordering solution, we want to make that integrated and easy to onboard and sell into our broader base of restaurants.

You are responsible from a sales perspective for both Bbot and Chowbotics (the bowl food robotics startup DoorDash acquired last year). While these are obviously very different products, they are both a part of an effort by DoorDash to diversify its product offering. Do you see any similarities between these two businesses?

On one hand, they both have to do with efficiency. The digital in-store solution is an efficiency lever, but it’s also a great customer experience addition as well. So it’s really the combination. Restaurants are learning how to operate more efficiently and the Bbot solution definitely helps in that regard. Chowbotics, on the one hand, can be an efficiency lever, if you think about Chowbotics as a back of store model, but the other side of robotics is a front of store model where we put that out to expand the footprint so it’s really more of a sales growth model.

Do you think we’re going to start seeing more of these types of acquisitions, not necessarily from DoorDash, but across the landscape?

I think we already are seeing some of that. Just look across some of the recent announcements, I think we’re early in the ecosystem. A lot of technology players out there, so I think there’s going to be a natural evolution, one way or the other through acquisitions, some of those technologies are just not going to make it over time.

Thank you for your time.

You’re welcome.

DoorDash Acquires In-Venue Order & Pay Specialist Bbot

Food delivery giant DoorDash announced today they have entered into an agreement to buy Bbot, a New York-based maker of order and pay software for restaurants. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bbot, which offers a suite of off-premise and in-venue ordering solutions, is best known for its in-venue QR code offering that allows customers to pull up the menu, order, and pay for items with their phones. The company has seen rapid growth over the past couple of years as restaurants raced to upgrade their digital ordering capabilities and install contactless payment solutions during the pandemic. The company’s fast growth led to not one but two funding rounds in 2021 and was enough to convince Doordash to scoop up the company.

For DoorDash, which launched its restaurant e-commerce platform DoorDash Storefront in 2020, the BBot deal helps expand its digital suite to include payment and in-venue offerings.

“We’re excited to bring our combined suite to an even wider selection of merchants across the hospitality space – including bars, hotels, and ghost kitchens – so these businesses can engage with more customers, increase their quality of service, and grow sales,” said Tom Pickett, DoorDash’s Chief Revenue Officer, in the release.

The Bbot deal is the latest in a string of recent acquisitions for DoorDash. The company moved into Europe with an $8 billion acquisition of Wolt late last year, and before that, acquired robot bowl-food maker Chowbotics.

For Bbot, today’s news marks the culmination of a journey that started with building a robotic beer delivery system on the ceiling of a bar. The company added QR code ordering as almost an afterthought to enable customers to order beer delivered via the conveyor belt.

“After launching in January of 2018, the next place was like ‘I’ll take all of it except the robots,'” said Bbot CEO Steve Simoni in an interview with The Spoon last year. “That was March of 2018. From there, we pivoted fully into that.”

Pizza Hut Launches a Fully Robotic Restaurant-in-a-Box (Video)

This month, Pizza Hut debuted a fully automated robot-powered restaurant.

The ‘restaurant-in-a-box’ is based on technology from Hyper-Robotics, an Israel-based food robotics startup that makes containerized restaurants.

The restaurant is operating out of the parking lot of Drorim Mall, a shopping mall located in the central Israel city of Bnei Dror. The restaurant is fully self-contained, doing everything from dropping toppings to baking and boxing. About the only thing it doesn’t do is make the dough, but according to Hyper its pizza restaurant can hold up to 240 types of dough in different sizes.

You can see the robot in action here:

When Hyper launched its robot pizza restaurant in November, it had a capacity of 50 pies per hour. It also had 30 warming cabinets, two robotic dispensing arms and dispensers for up to 12 toppings.

The customer initiates an order for a pizza directly from a touchscreen kiosk on the restaurant exterior or through the Pizza Hut app. After the pizza is made and boxed, a Pizza Hut employee takes the pizza from a dispensing tray and hands it to the customer. In future versions, the restaurant will be able to dispense the pizza directly to the customer.

That Hyper’s biggest named customer is also the biggest name is pizza shouldn’t be a surprise, in part because its founder, Udi Shamai, is also the president of Pizza Hut Israel. Shamai is a master franchisee that oversees 90 Pizza Huts across the country.

When I wrote our food robotics predictions last week, one of the trends I predicted for food robotics was the rise of the robot restaurants-in-a-box. It looks like Hyper and Pizza Hut didn’t waste any time getting the ball rolling on this trend.