The restaurant industry has started to utilize self-driving cars, drone deliveries and tech-enabled ordering concepts, but the overall dining out/drive-thru process still requires a human-to-human interface, right? Not necessarily. Two recent openings that perfectly illustrate the onset of the robotic dining revolution can be found at Octane Coffee in Waukesha, Wisc., and CaliExpress by Flippy in Pasadena, Calif. These new formats aim to remedy such issues as employee labor costs, especially in California, where in April the minimum wage will become $20/hour for dining establishments with 60+ units. The robotic technologies also ensure faster service with less room for human error. Both of these brands behind the new automated dining concepts expect to sell or lease their particular technologies to other restaurants interested in utilizing the robotic features.
Octane Coffee, a fully automated drive thru that had its official grand opening in October, consists of an eight-foot by 20-foot modular shipping container situated on an outparcel of a retail strip center in Waukesha, next to a K1 Speed – Indoor Go Karts venue. Other tenants in the retail center include Battle House Laser Tag, Point Burger (a local restaurant) and a church. At least two more Octane Coffee drive-thru units are expected this year in the greater Wisconsin area, most likely in heavy transportation hubs near major highways and interstates. By 2025, Octane Coffee hopes to be franchising its vending machine-esque coffee builds on a national scale.
The targeted customer base for Octane Coffee are on-the-go commuters in the 18- to 45-year-old range, including high school or college students with disposable incomes, parents with their kids in tow and professionals on their way to work.
Completely employee free — with the exception of a staffer who will spend about 30 minutes a day cleaning and restocking supplies — Octane Coffee utilizes proprietary robotic arm-like technology to prepare drinks on demand via its own mobile app. After placing an order, the app’s software then tracks the customer’s location. When the customer is about two minutes away, Octane Coffee begins preparing the order that is then picked up from a window that opens with a scanned QR code. The drinks that can be ordered include premium coffees, teas, hot chocolate, smoothies, juice drinks and specialty items such as iced caramel lattes or hot chai tea. Local Wisconsin-based vendors, including Stone Creek Coffee, Healthy Roots Juices and Pilcrow Coffee, are partnering with Octane to provide the products.
Another fully automated restaurant, CaliExpress by Flippy, expects to officially open its doors inside of an 11,945-s.f. corner retail street-front space in Pasadena by the spring. The restaurant is next to a Dave’s Hot Chicken and a block away from Anytime Fitness and Sweetgreen. It is also within walking distance to Miso Robotics, the company responsible for the robotic technology featured in the restaurant, including the “Flippy” arm that can handle all of the steps involved with frying up french fries and a “BurgerBot” version of Flippy that can grind up and cook a meat patty, in addition to placing the finished patty into its own serving container. Although the restaurant is generally run without the need of human workers, there will be one to two employees on hand to do final preparations of an order, such as placing the finished patty into a bun and adding special toppings and condiments.
If the name Miso Robotics sounds familiar, it is because its “Flippy” technology is already sourced out to numerous restaurants in the U.S., including Sweetgreen, White Castle, Jack in the Box, Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill, to name a few. CaliExpress by Flippy will also feature tech advancements from PopID, the software developer responsible for the self-checkout kiosks that can not only remember a customer’s previous orders for an overall quicker experience, can but also utilize an optional facial recognition system. Another investing partner is CaliGroup, a holding company that is a partial owner of Miso Robotics and also owns the CaliBurger restaurant in Seattle, which prominently features the “Flippy” arm.
Even though CaliExpress by Flippy will be a working restaurant that serves quality burgers and fries, the location will primarily be considered a museum-like showcase for Miso Robotics to demonstrate to its customers and potential clients what its robotic technologies are capable of. The restaurant will allow customers to watch the whole robotic food preparation process and will also feature displays of earlier versions of the Flippy arm, as well as contain a photo wall showing the progression of the company and its technology.
