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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

stadiums

Bear Robotics Now Serving Houston Rockets Fans at Toyota Center

NBA fans heading to Toyota Center to see the Houston Rockets now have the option of getting drinks and snacks served by a robot. Bear Robotics announced on Linkedin yesterday that it has partnered with Levy Restaurants and the Houston Rockets to use its Servi bot at games.

The Houston Rockets posted a promotional video to its official YouTube channel, showing the Servi robot in action along with a caption saying this was the “first-ever robot-assisted food and beverage service at a stadium or arena.”

Rockets Launch First-Ever Robot-Assisted Arena Food And Beverage Service

No further details were posted either by Bear Robotics or the Houston Rockets, so we don’t know where in the stadium the robot is serving or how a person can get the robot service. UPDATE: a Levy Restaurants rep emailed us the following:

During the Rockets remaining games of the 2020-21 season, hospitality team members at Toyota Center will be assisted by an autonomous food service robot. This pilot program will start in Toyota Center’s premium all-inclusive Suite Club to allow team members to focus on providing industry-leading service to fans while the robot performs more routine and physically demanding tasks.

The robot will circulate dining spaces inside the premium space while carrying pre-packaged food and beverage items for guests to pick from. This pilot program will allow Toyota Center staff to learn more about the robot and how it could be potentially utilized in more areas next season.

While this may be the first robot server at a stadium, it is not the first time stadiums — or Levy Restaurants — have employed food-related robots. Both Dodger Stadium and Diamondback’s Chase Field used Miso Robotics’ Flippy robot to fry up chicken tenders and tater tots. And Centerplate Pizza at Safeco Park used Picnic’s pizza assembling robot.

Prior to the pandemic, stadiums were actually a great place to employ automation. Stadiums are packed with lots of people who want good (not necessarily artisanal) food quickly. Robots are able to crank out a steady stream of food made consistently, without taking a break. And as vaccines roll out and stadiums cautiously re-open, robots have another benefit — contactless delivery. Removing a human server eliminates another point of human-to-human transmission, which some wary fans might find more comforting when venturing back out into the world.

If you’re a Rockets fan going to the game, see if you can spot the robot and take a picture for us! If you’re just a fan of food robotics, then you should definitely attend our ArticulATE food robotics and automation virtual summit on May 18. It’s a full day devoted to discussing the most cutting-edge innovation in the robotics space. Get your ticket today!

The Food Tech Show: Is The Smart Kitchen Dumb? Discuss.

The Spoon gang got together this week to discuss some of the stories we’re reading and writing about.

In this episode of The Food Tech Show, Chris, Jenn and myself talk about:

That it. As always, take a listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download it directly to your device or just click play below.

 

Zippin to Open Cashierless Checkout Convenience Store at Golden 1 Center Arena in Sacramento

Zippin announced today that has partnered with Golden 1 Center arena in Sacramento to open up a cashierless checkout convenience store inside that arena next month. The store will be open during Sacramento Kings games and concerts.

According to a press release sent to The Spoon, the store will offer a variety of drinks and snacks including popcorn and draft beer. Much like other cashierless convenience stores, shoppers will scan the Sacramento Kings + Golden 1 Center app and/or the Zippin app upon entering the store. Once inside, an array of cameras and shelf sensors will keep track of what people grab and keep, and then charge them automatically upon leaving the store. Those who don’t have the app will be able to enter the store by presenting a valid credit or debit card.

We told you yesterday to keep an eye on locations like stadiums and arenas as new frontiers in food tech. So it’s not a huge surprise to see a cashierless convenience store alongside robot fry cooks and Postmates food pickup lines. Stadiums and arenas like Golden 1 Center are all about speed — getting you food quickly so you don’t miss any action (and so you can come back faster to buy even more). Having a store where you can grab what you want and walk out brings both speed, choice and convenience to the arena eating experience.

The entire cashierless checkout space has seen a flurry of activity just this month. Last week, Trigo raised $22 million for its technology, which is already in use at the Shufersal supermarket chain in Israel. And earlier this month, Caper, which moves the cameras and computer vision part of the cashierless equation into smart shopping carts, raised $10 million.

But Zippin has been busy making news of its own, re-launching its own convenience store in downtown San Francisco and, more recently, getting a strategic investment from Brazil’s Lojas Americanas S.A., and powering that chains Ame Go line of convenience stores.

Given the appetite event venues like Golden 1, Mile High Stadium and Dodgers Stadium have for food retail innovation, I fully expect to see more cashierless convenience store openings in the coming months. This is good news for the cashierless startups as well. These stores will be smaller (not full grocery store size), so they will be cheaper to implement and welcomed by fans who don’t want to wait in line. Most importantly, they will expose lots of people to the concept of cashierless checkout.

Everyone at these venues wins. Except for the losing team.