Nommi plans to launch its own robotic kitchen for making bowls
As restaurants continue to struggle with worker shortages, owners will undoubtedly pay more and more attention to automated solutions. Because of this, and the heightened focus on food processing during the global pandemic, this may be the best time to run a food-robotics company.
Los Angeles-based Nommi has announced a partnership with restaurant brand C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), which will result in the deployment of up to 1,000 of its robotic kiosks for real estate partners and university campuses around the world.
Nommi is the newest robotics startup concept developed by food automation incubator Wavemaker Labs, which is behind Miso Robotics (Flippy, a robotic grill and fryer), Bobacino (a beverage robot), Future Acres (a farm assistant) and Piestro (a pizza kiosk). What makes Nommi unique is that the company is the product of a partnership between Wavemaker, C3 and celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, each of which holds a stake in the new company.
“When we started developing it, we really wanted partners who would let it scale quickly and who had really stacked the deck before we started playing”
The variety of foods that can be sufficiently automated is still a relatively small list. Nommi specializes in bowls, which, like pizza, are a relatively uniform and self-contained cooking system that is easy for robots to understand. The company's main product is essentially an elongated kiosk with a built-in touchscreen that lets the customer customize their meal.
The device prepares bowls with noodles, grains and salad in just three minutes. The machine holds up to 330 plates and can cook several bowls at once. Once finished, it can hold up to 21 prepared portions in lockers that release the food using a QR code.
The C3 deal includes a partnership with Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef, who will supply products from his Sa'Moto brand for the devices, which will operate around the clock, every day of the week.
C3, which has made a name for itself in recent years through aggressive expansion into virtual food delivery concepts, plans to order up to 1,000 Nommi units over the next few years. While Jordan and C3 suggest Nommi will expand into some physical restaurant locations, the main focus for the cooking robot will be food delivery.
According to Jordan, the startup will make delivery truly affordable. Over the next five years, delivery volume is expected to double, so the company wants to be part of that.
“Nommi's secret sauce is undoubtedly its unmatched versatility, both from a brand perspective and a consumer perspective. Partnering with an innovative platform like C3 adds another layer of access to numerous revenue streams and unique customers. Both companies are disrupting the food industry, and our partnership began at exactly the right time”
According to Jordan, although the initial machine will be designed to prepare bowls that can be handed to people for delivery, the company envisions a future that will be fully robotic.
“The device is designed and runs through our system so that regular delivery apps can use it. But in the long term, we are trying to figure out how to create a robotic handoff system to some of the robotic delivery vehicles to ensure complete continuity”
Chef Morimoto will oversee the first Nommi restaurant, which will feature dishes from his Sa'Moto restaurant brand. According to Jordan, Morimoto's input had a significant impact on the robot's design. The chef wants to create truly high-quality food, so there will be no compromises as long as his name is attached to the deal.
Because Morimoto wanted to neatly place ingredients in each bowl, the design team tried to build a robot capable of cooking with such precision. This led to a system of wheeled carts that move under the food dispensing stations and rotate 360 degrees to place ingredients precisely.
Nommi fills a gap in Wavemaker's lineup by creating a fully automated bowl kitchen kiosk. Miso, Wavemaker's best-known food robotics startup, makes robotic frying and grilling cooks. Piestro makes consumer-facing robotic pizza kiosks. Together with Nommi, the company has developed a flexible food robot that, according to Jordan, is capable enough to reproduce diverse menus from high-end chefs.
“Brands that will be automated will be built from scratch. That is why we want to take the best-in-class food from Michelin-starred chefs and bring fine dishes to the masses. We want to do this in a fully automated way and be able to make a grain bowl created by Morimoto cost the same as a Big Mac”
According to Jordan, the company hopes to begin shipping its robotic product in 2023.
