Advancing technology takes over the restaurant industry
While the world is turning more digital with each passing day, new ways of doing business are emerging to provide better experiences to customers and to solve the many arising issues in the industry, especially in light of the current pandemic.
One of the ways to provide quick and safe services in restaurants is by utilizing the latest robotic innovations, which is taking the industry to a whole new level.
How can technology benefit the daily running of food outlets? Recently, a robot called Sally, was rolled out in Saudi Arabia, and is the world’s first salad robot. Created by Chowbotics, the Silicon Valley-based food robotics company explains, “We are building a more hygienic path to fresh food. Sally uses groundbreaking robotics to assemble delicious meals from ingredients that are contained and protected. It’s innovative technology that enables safe fresh food for more people in more places.”
Putting freshness and customer preferences as a significant incentive for the business, a robot uses precision robotics to collect customizable meals. All taste preferences alongside breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal choices, are options made available by the robot, while people can choose their meal, toppings, and dressings, which are all refilled daily.
Chowbotics established the machine as a way to defy food-service challenges by improving speed, freshness, and convenience.
Regarding the food’s expiration date, Sally gives notifications on ingredients’ expiration over a cloud-based dashboard to operatives involved in the daily cleaning and topping up of the stations.
Cobots (collaborative robots) are dedicated to direct human-robot interaction, and can be found in the industry where humans and robots work alongside each other. They can be used mainly to complete simple jobs like serving or selling food items.
The development of Artificial Intelligence has driven the rapid adoption of robots and other forms of technologies in the MENA region. Round Menu is a platform designed for restaurant search and discovery, launched in the UAE in 2012, expanding to 7 other markets after receiving an investment of $730K. The application offers 40 per cent discounts on restaurant bills at UAE restaurants, aiming to reach Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
ElMenus is another example, an Egyptian-based food discovery platform, raised $1.5 million in funding, and claims over one million monthly customers the application is considered the best way to explore new places to eat and drink all while giving customers the option to rate the food and experience.
Undoubtedly, the shift in consumer behavior amid the Coronavirus pandemic has inspired further development to provide convenient, contact-free solutions in restaurants, which will help drive more traffic to food outlets in the coming months.
“New technology tools are tantalizing and sometimes necessary for people, but the human touch remains enormously important,” a PwC study from 2017-2018 reported.