Why Intelligent Automation is changing the commercial kitchen landscape and the future of food

Are you ready for a side of “Intelligent Automation” with your next takeout meal? It’s time to whet your appetite for a robotic restaurant revolution, built on powerful artificial intelligence and automation, that is coming sooner than you may think.

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of talk and hype around artificial intelligence, and everyone is fascinated to see a robot in action. But when I talk about ‘Intelligent Automation’ there’s a lot more to it than flashy visuals and buzzwords, especially when it comes to the food service industry. Machine learning, data analytics, computer vision, sensors and cloud technology all play a role and need to be connected strategically to truly transform the industry. Restaurants have long operated without the insights they need and depended on limited resourcing to stay afloat. Intelligent Automation disrupts the status quo with new hardware and sophisticated software to support operators and meet customer demands, reimagining the future of food.

Infusing the commercial kitchen with increased technology and brainpower helps kitchen operators and staff see and learn to do more with greater efficiency and safety, all at a cheaper cost. The meals coming out of the kitchen hit plates faster, taste better and result in a better dining experience. It’s a win-win for the restaurant as much as the customer.

As the pandemic took hold, interest in Intelligent Automation heated up to meet a combined demand for takeout meal delivery services, increased health and safety needs, and more social distancing staffing limits.

While social distancing requirements are slowly receding, the issue of labor has long plagued the industry and even as we carefully emerge out of the pandemic, the problem is set to continue. Pre-pandemic the industry was facing an aging workforce and turnover rates of up to 300 percent. Now, post-pandemic, the industry struggles with bringing workers back [CNBC]. At the end of March, the industry had a series high of 8.1 million in job openings, which kicked off at the end of 2000 [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]. The pool has been shrinking for 20 years and it’s smaller than ever, operators are faced with the struggle to recover without the workforce to get it done. Year-over-year growth at these businesses alone increased from 25% to over 100% last year [New York Times]. To keep up, operators are scrambling for technology that can help.

The reality is, the restaurant industry has been facing fundamental challenges to its survival for some time now, and Intelligent Automation is the emerging secret ingredient to the future success of the commercial kitchen to operate more efficiently, consistently, and safely.

Technology like Flippy, the automated frying arm made by Miso Robotics, which is part of the Wavemaker Labs portfolio, has already shown what’s possible. Flippy is now expanding to 10 additional White Castle restaurant locations after early success with the pilot.

But don’t be fooled, Flippy isn’t a simple robot– it’s got the eyes and brains that Intelligent Automation is all about, connecting to the point of sales (POS) system to coordinate the entire cooking process. Flippy ensures your order is completed and timed so it doesn’t sit under a heat lamp and is even synced with delivery apps so that your food arrives as hot, fresh and delicious as possible.

All that intelligence is based on Miso Robotics’ CookRight platform, which is now available as a standalone software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering to allow operators to perfect the cooking process for pretty much anything that you can put onto a grill. Soon the company will look to connect more ‘apps’, or tasks in the kitchen, to the platform for even greater quality across all of your menu favorites.

As the cost of hardware continues to drop, you’re bound to see more Robot-as-a-service (Raas) offerings mature, and with out of the box SaaS like CookRight also entering the kitchen, operators will know more to save more and increase profits with the knowledge they need to meet customer expectations. The lower cost and big benefits will make ubiquitous automation possible someday. Square’s Future of Restaurant report found that 91 percent of U.S. restaurants plan to deploy some form of automation this year, so we are well on our way.

By 2030 (just seven years from now), I’m confident that we’ll all be ordering meals from advanced kiosks that operate like fresh food vending machines. I’m talking made-in-front-of-you pizza, boba tea, Chinese food — you name it, you can order it and eat it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Eventually, maybe we will even be able to harness the data generated by these interactions and use machine learning to get personalized culinary recommendations before you even need to view the menu. With every advancement in technology we get one step closer to creating a better food experience.

While some of this might seem far-fetched, the reality is most of the technology needed is already within reach and will soon be here to stay.

So, let’s embrace Intelligent Automation at every touchpoint in the commercial kitchen—to drive efficiency, quality, profitability and lower waste, health and safety risks. My mouth is already watering at what the future holds. I hope you’re equally as hungry for the future of commercial kitchens, and welcome comments/perspective on the topic!

What do you think will be the next big thing for the commercial kitchen?