There has been significant R&D investments in kitchen automation in the last decade and we're just starting to see the amazing results. As covered in Dec 2020 article, Future Restaurants Will Fit In A Shipping Container And Have No Humans In The Kitchen. [1]
> “Starting in the next two years, you’re going to see an explosion of really high quality, small footprint delivery kiosks — think high quality vending machines, kind of express menus,” Miso Robotics co-founder Buck Jordan told me recently on the TechFirst podcast.
> “But then I think around year five or seven, you’re going to start seeing a lot of … all new-build kitchens being completely reinvented, fully autonomous, no humans in the back of house, 25% the square footage, probably fits in a shipping container, completely changing the entire industry and potentially disrupting the franchise model.”
> “The future’s already here,” he says. “We have standalone machines that can cook a pizza in less than three minutes from scratch. We have automated Boba tea bars hitting the scene. And all these things just make it easier for customers to get low-touch food options faster and close to home.”
White Castle has been experimenting with this tech and in October 2020, announced that they would roll out the robotic fry cook to 10 new locations. [2] See [3] for a short video, showing the robot in action. There is also the Creator restaurant in San Francisco, which has a fully automated burger chef. [4,5]
Amazon Go has already solved the problem of automating retail. [6] As a customer, you don't interact with any employees. You scan in with your app as you enter, cameras automatically detect the items you select, and it charges your account when you exit. Go stores still have employees, including people stocking the shelves and someone available to help people as needed. Nonetheless, they still require fewer employees and can therefore offer lower costs.
I used to frequent two of the Go stores when I lived in San Francisco. They are incredibly convenient and offer the highest value in terms of value for cost. Quite hopeful that they'll expand out to my current city soon.
Getting people out of this menial work will drop costs to consumers, while improving consistency, quality, and cleanliness. I can hardly wait for what this sector will look like in just a decade.
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/12/11/the-rob...
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/27/white-castle-rolls-out-mor...
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vjf13h2f6o