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Kathleen Martin
Guest
Fast-food giants, such as Starbucks, Domino's, and Chipotle, are typically the first movers when it comes to restaurant innovation. Casual-dining chains are often the last to adopt new technologies.
But Chili's is looking to blaze its own trail by pulling the industry's version of a technological hat trick. The 1,200-unit chain is leaning into three robotics and automation technologies: autonomous rovers, drone delivery, and robot food runners and hosts.
"We don't want to be laggards," said Wade Allen, the senior vice president of innovation for Chili's parent company, Brinker International. "We need to be thinking about innovation. We need to be thinking about robotics in the restaurant and making life easier for operators."
The timing is right for Chili's. Food-service robots and drones are taking off as the pandemic and a challenging hiring environment have fueled faster adoption of cost-saving labor and delivery tools. Investors are taking notice, pouring millions into robotics and autonomous logistics startups, such as Coco, Serve Robotics, Bear Robotics, Miso Robotics, and Flytrex.
Allen said he researched various startups and went with drone delivery by Flytrex, self-driving rovers by Serve Robotics, and robot food runners by Bear Robotics. Here's why.
Company: Bear Robotics
Technology: Robot food-service assistants
Job duties: Rita the Robot, a play on the chain's famous margaritas, tackles multiple tasks, such as escorting guests to tables, singing birthday songs, helping servers deliver meals, and busing tables.
Deployment: In 2020, Chili's tested the first robot at one restaurant in Dallas. Six months ago, the chain expanded the pilot to 10 restaurants in California, Texas, and Florida. In April, the company added a Rita the Robot to 51 more restaurants, bringing the total to 61 locations.
Chili's take on the tech: Adding robot food assistants is not a labor-replacing move, Allen said. "Humans matter," he added. But there's a lot of "mundane tasks that go on in the restaurant" that don't necessarily have to be solved by humans, such as delivering dishes or clearing tables.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/chilis-is-testing-drones-robots-to-save-on-delivery-fees-2022-5
But Chili's is looking to blaze its own trail by pulling the industry's version of a technological hat trick. The 1,200-unit chain is leaning into three robotics and automation technologies: autonomous rovers, drone delivery, and robot food runners and hosts.
"We don't want to be laggards," said Wade Allen, the senior vice president of innovation for Chili's parent company, Brinker International. "We need to be thinking about innovation. We need to be thinking about robotics in the restaurant and making life easier for operators."
The timing is right for Chili's. Food-service robots and drones are taking off as the pandemic and a challenging hiring environment have fueled faster adoption of cost-saving labor and delivery tools. Investors are taking notice, pouring millions into robotics and autonomous logistics startups, such as Coco, Serve Robotics, Bear Robotics, Miso Robotics, and Flytrex.
Allen said he researched various startups and went with drone delivery by Flytrex, self-driving rovers by Serve Robotics, and robot food runners by Bear Robotics. Here's why.
Company: Bear Robotics
Technology: Robot food-service assistants
Job duties: Rita the Robot, a play on the chain's famous margaritas, tackles multiple tasks, such as escorting guests to tables, singing birthday songs, helping servers deliver meals, and busing tables.
Deployment: In 2020, Chili's tested the first robot at one restaurant in Dallas. Six months ago, the chain expanded the pilot to 10 restaurants in California, Texas, and Florida. In April, the company added a Rita the Robot to 51 more restaurants, bringing the total to 61 locations.
Chili's take on the tech: Adding robot food assistants is not a labor-replacing move, Allen said. "Humans matter," he added. But there's a lot of "mundane tasks that go on in the restaurant" that don't necessarily have to be solved by humans, such as delivering dishes or clearing tables.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/chilis-is-testing-drones-robots-to-save-on-delivery-fees-2022-5
