June 19, 2018

Robotics, which up until now has been largely confined to the upstream portion of the ag value chain, is starting to make inroads far downstream with the introduction of automated food preparation. One of the latest entrants, Chowbotics, has raised $11 million in a Series A-1 round led by the Foundry Neighborhood and Techstars. Techstars participated in the company’s seed and Series A rounds as well.

The company plans to use the funding to move beyond the leafy greens segment and develop robots capable of assembling more complex meals, including grain, breakfast, poke, açai, and yogurt bowls. “The major challenges are finding special technical solutions for dispensing different shapes and sizes of ingredients,” founder/CEO Deepak Sekar told TechCrunch. Chowbotics also added a number of senior level marketing and sales personnel.

Chowbotics initial product is “Sally” – a robot that serves customizable, made-to-order salads. Via a touchscreen user interface, Sally makes salads in approximately one minute with any combination of up to 22 ingredients. The robot offers more than 10,000 custom salad options. Users can fine-tune the calorie total by adding or subtracting ingredients.

Growing Use of Robotic Technology in Commercial Kitchens

Basic automated technology like self-service ordering and robotic servers is already making inroads, according to a  McKinsey Global Institute report in 2017. Jobs that involve “predictable physical activities” — such as cooking or serving food, cleaning kitchens, collecting dirty dishes, and preparing beverages — will be the first to be automated. The report said that “73 percent of the activities workers perform in food service and accommodations have the potential for automation, based on technical considerations.”

Spyce, a Boston restaurant started by a group of robotics engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has replaced human line cooks with seven automated cooking pots that simultaneously whip up meals in three minutes or less. Everything is automated, from when customers place their customized, $7.50 order using touch-screens. Ingredients are collected from the fridge using an automated delivery system, and cooked in a robotic wok.

Robots have yet to replace all the roles in a restaurant however – Spyce partnered with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud to create its menu.

By David Nitchman, GAI Media