Picnic

?? Exciting News from Picnic! ?? We’re thrilled to announce that Picnic, the leader in food production automation, has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Cercano Management, with support from new investor Unlock Venture Partners and our existing investors, Thursday Ventures, Flying Fish Partners, and Creative Ventures. This funding will fuel our mission to enhance customer productivity and drive automation across various industries. With a focus on scaling operations and improving delivery capabilities, we’re poised to meet the growing demand for our innovative food automation solutions across North America. As Andy Liu, partner at Unlock Venture Partners notes, “Picnic is a perfect fit for investors looking to capitalize on the rapidly expanding world of Robotics, Food Technology, and Automation.” With over 3 billion pizzas sold annually in North America, we see an immense opportunity ahead! ?? We’re proud to support our diverse customer base, which includes universities, stadiums, and the U.S. military, by tackling industry challenges like rising labor costs and food waste. Our Picnic Pizza Station empowers businesses to enhance efficiency while maintaining product quality. As Chef Lee Kindell of MOTO Pizza shared,“Picnic’s platform gives us the efficiency we need without compromising the quality that defines our brand.” This blend of tradition and technology is exactly what we aim for!? A huge thank you to our investors and partners for believing in our vision. Together, we’re redefining food automation! #FoodTech #Automation #Innovation #Funding #Picnic https://lnkd.in/geEJjDad

?? Exciting News from Picnic! ?? We’re thrilled to announce that Picnic, the leader in food production automation, has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Cercano Management, with support from new investor Unlock Venture Partners and our existing investors, Thursday Ventures, Flying Fish Partners, and Creative Ventures. This funding will fuel our mission to enhance customer productivity and drive automation across various industries. With a focus on scaling operations and improving delivery capabilities, we’re poised to meet the growing demand for our innovative food automation solutions across North America. As Andy Liu, partner at Unlock Venture Partners notes, “Picnic is a perfect fit for investors looking to capitalize on the rapidly expanding world of Robotics, Food Technology, and Automation.” With over 3 billion pizzas sold annually in North America, we see an immense opportunity ahead! ?? We’re proud to support our diverse customer base, which includes universities, stadiums, and the U.S. military, by tackling industry challenges like rising labor costs and food waste. Our Picnic Pizza Station empowers businesses to enhance efficiency while maintaining product quality. As Chef Lee Kindell of MOTO Pizza shared,“Picnic’s platform gives us the efficiency we need without compromising the quality that defines our brand.” This blend of tradition and technology is exactly what we aim for!? A huge thank you to our investors and partners for believing in our vision. Together, we’re redefining food automation! #FoodTech #Automation #Innovation #Funding #Picnic https://lnkd.in/geEJjDad

One of these Chipotle Mexican Grill bowls was made by hand, the other, a robot. Can you guess which is which?! This week, I drove down to Chipotle's Corona Del Mar store in Newport Beach, CA to put its latest test with Hyphen's automated makeline to the test. While I am biased as a food technologist, the automated bowl won on portioning accuracy and lack of cross-contamination (I found random pieces of corn in the other bowl). The manual bowl won on the consistency of its cheese, a slight issue that is likely being worked out in its testing phase. From a restaurant perspective, this is a game changer for Chipotle who can now deploy fewer staff to its digital order makeline that accounts for over a third of its sales. Not to mention, it can save food costs on overportioning while also unlocking higher throughput capacity during busier dayparts. The age of automation is upon us. I'm also excited to be hosting Timothy Noonan of sweetgreen at the upcoming HNGRY Summit on October 25th at ChowNow HQ in LA to discuss its automated Infinite Kitchen solution alongside autonomous delivery players Starship Technologies and Zipline. Grab your tickets here >> https://summit.hngry.tv The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet. Put your best guess in the comments. ??

One of these Chipotle Mexican Grill bowls was made by hand, the other, a robot. Can you guess which is which?! This week, I drove down to Chipotle's Corona Del Mar store in Newport Beach, CA to put its latest test with Hyphen's automated makeline to the test. While I am biased as a food technologist, the automated bowl won on portioning accuracy and lack of cross-contamination (I found random pieces of corn in the other bowl). The manual bowl won on the consistency of its cheese, a slight issue that is likely being worked out in its testing phase. From a restaurant perspective, this is a game changer for Chipotle who can now deploy fewer staff to its digital order makeline that accounts for over a third of its sales. Not to mention, it can save food costs on overportioning while also unlocking higher throughput capacity during busier dayparts. The age of automation is upon us. I'm also excited to be hosting Timothy Noonan of sweetgreen at the upcoming HNGRY Summit on October 25th at ChowNow HQ in LA to discuss its automated Infinite Kitchen solution alongside autonomous delivery players Starship Technologies and Zipline. Grab your tickets here >> https://summit.hngry.tv The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet. Put your best guess in the comments. ??