Automation and robotics are not just buzzwords. They are a reality and the food industry is making the most of it. From autonomous robotic kitchen assistants that flip burgers to robots that go above and beyond helping chefs with recipes, this is the beginning of marvels in the food robotics industry.
Since the advent of Flippy, the world’s first robotic kitchen assistant, those in the restaurant business finally been made aware that automation is key to improving efficiency and maintaining consistency. More importantly, robots do not demand sick leaves and never compromise the quality of the food. Robots can work side-by-side with humans and help them if required. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based monitoring in robotics has opened new doors of opportunities in the market.
According to Allied Market Research, the global food robotics market is expected to reach $5.78 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 10.4% from 2022 to 2031. The surge in the need for packaged food, increase in demand for high-speed productivity, and rise in production of cost-effective robots drive the market. But how food robotics could change the world in the upcoming years?
Automation would shoulder most of the work
The Covid-19 pandemic hit hard to the restaurant business. The Covid-19 pandemic put extra pressure on staff who had no choice but to get in contact with customers and maintain social distancing rules and use masks 24×7.
However, food robots offered a helping hand. The roll-out of robots, specially designed for managing front-of-house jobs handled a lot of work of the overburdened restaurant’s staff. Moreover, some companies launched completely automated food robots that took care of making and dispensing food and handling the responsibilities of bartenders. These robots solved two major issues: first, helping the staff with chores and meeting the customer demands even when there was a shortage of workers during the pandemic.
While the demand for automation is rising, there are several operations in the food & beverage sector that need human involvement. The presence of human workers may make it difficult to completely automate the food manufacturing process with a conventional level of automation. However, collaborative robots or cobots offer a possibility for companies to automate a small part of their processes such as pick and place.
Surge in food robot start-ups
The pandemic was a perfect opportunity for food robot start-ups to ask for funding. For instance, Zume, a start-up that launched its robot that introduced robots for pizza delivery. Since then, several companies started to rethink whether the robots in the warehouse space can be used in the food delivery space. Apart from start-ups, several robotics companies have entered the food robotics industry. Pudu Robotics, a leading company in commercial service robotics recently launched four new food robots including three delivery robots and one cleaning robot. Such innovations entering the market would shorten the delivery period and improve the efficiency and consistency of the restaurant business.
While the food delivery sector has gained attention, some robotics have gained popularity due to their versatility. WineCab is a robot that can fetch wine for customers using a glass-paneled hatch. The robot has in-build facial recognition software that allows it to remember the special wine selections of certain users.
In the future, we can expect robots to ring the doorbell and deliver pizza or take our orders in a restaurant.
Conclusion
For now, the involvement of robotics in the food industry is at an early stage. Companies are now still unsure whether the investment in robotics is worth the hassle. However, over the years, the robots would get smarter, thanks to AI, and would change the fast-food industry.
While it is hard to imagine a cloud running the entire kitchen of the restaurant and food being prepared without human involvement, there are already a few robots that are doing men’s jobs better than them. Thus, there is no doubt that a fully-automated kitchen would be the next big thing in the restaurant business.
Currently, only collaborative or repetitive operations are handed over to robots. As automation and robotics become popular, they would be a must-have in the restaurant business to improve efficiency, safety, and productivity.
The processes such as chopping vegetables, mixing vegetables, or boiling are the prime jobs for robots. But things would improve in the future and robotics would be a part of marking gimmick to attract crowd outside the restaurants because who would not want to see robots doing the man’s job?
Author bio: Swamini Kulkarni holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and works as a content writer. She is deeply fascinated by technological advancements and the trending topic in the world. When she is not glued to the computer, she loves to read, travel, and spend time thinking about how she could read and travel more often.
