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.
