Food tenants continue to look for ways to reduce the price of delivery costs. Shop owners in dense urban locations are also experiencing difficulty with these third-party drivers being able to find convenient parking to pick up the food to be delivered. Other delivery options, such as bicycle couriers, have also proved problematic, especially because of the threat of spilled food, flat tires or traffic collisions. A solution has been offered in the form of a robot delivery concept that can maneuver itself on city sidewalks, and that can move at a safe speed of about three to four miles per hour. Two such battery-operated robotic food delivery options, from the companies Kiwibot and Tortoise, have already been tested and are expanding their reach into new markets nationwide.
Kiwibot is a delivery program in which a two-foot high electric robot — complete with an insulated compartment, speakers, cameras and sensors to navigate itself — can deliver items to customers, via an app, within a two-mile radius using GPS technology. Kiwibot has been conducting trial runs in test markets and on college campuses in the U.S. during the past year. Over the summer, Kiwibot expanded its robot program to additional college campuses in addition to testing the concept out in a six-month trial period in new urban markets: San Jose, Calif., Pittsburgh, Detroit and Miami. In Pittsburgh, Kiwibot debuted its delivery services from local-based Wilson’s Pharmacy and Taquitos last month. In March, Kiwibot introduced robot deliveries in Santa Monica, Calif., working with three different Chick-fil-As, as well as Red O Restaurant, an upscale Mexican restaurant brand in Southern California, and local-based Blue Plate Taco. Even a shopping mall has tested these robots out, with Brookfield Properties’ The Parks Mall, in Arlington, Texas, conducting a two-week trial run in January, in which food court items were couriered to different spots in the mall.
Another robot delivery service, Tortoise, has been ramping up its grocery delivery programs recently. In March, Tortoise had been testing out its robots solely in two Northern California markets — Tracy and Windsor, both located about 60 miles outside of San Francisco — for the Albertsons Companies-owned Safeway grocery stores. But Tortoise has since expanded its technology to two new Wakefern Food Corporation-owned ShopRite supermarkets in the Northeast: in Yardley, Pa., in September and coming to Bethlehem, Pa., by late October. By the end of the year, Tortoise also expects to be operating its robots for the Urban Value Corner Store in Dallas. Unlike Kiwibot, the Tortoise robot is tele-operated remotely by a human who “drives” the device to its final destination, located within three miles of the starting point. These remote drivers are based in out-of-state headquarters, yet can still operate remotely. The Tortoise lockable compartments are equipped with sensors to assist with navigation, and the containers can hold up to 150 pounds of produce, either chilled or room temperature. Upon arrival, the customer receives a text message, which offers directions for unlocking the robotic device. The Tortoise — the same size a grocery shopping cart — is weather-proof, allowing it to be used even in inclement weather, and the robot is illuminated to allow for 24/7 deliveries.
