Robots in the Kitchen: Who Invented What to Automate Food Preparation

Perhaps people have little in common these days, but there is one thing that connects everyone: food. In 2019, according to data from the National Restaurant Association, six out of ten people have at some point worked in the food service industry. Millions of people work in restaurants, but robotics may change everything in the near future. 

What Zume Does

A Silicon Valley startup called Zume, founded in 2015, became known for its robotic pizza-making machines and is now worth billions of dollars. 

Since its founding, Zume has shifted its focus from food robots to a corporate model based on the concept of cloud kitchens. Cloud kitchens are not restaurants in the clouds where divine chefs bake angelic pies. They are restaurants that only do delivery. 

The best-known cloud kitchen is considered to be CloudKitchens, founded by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick. In Zume's case, the company uses its high-tech mobile delivery vehicles to help restaurant entrepreneurs feed many people. In fact, Zume has never been a company focused solely on producing food robots. 

The Food Robotics Market

A growing number of companies are automating kitchens with food robotics, an industry that analysts forecast will reach a valuation of between $3 billion and $6 billion by 2026. Startups such as Miso Robotics and Creator exist. They specialize in preparing hamburgers. 

Let us take a closer look at companies developing food robotics for kitchen automation solutions. 

Pazzi

The French startup was founded in 2012. In 2019, the first pazziria (pizzeria) opened in Val d'Europe, a town outside Paris built by Disney to serve Disneyland.

At this location you can see the company's robot, which independently kneads dough, spreads sauce, arranges ingredients, places the pizza in the oven, and then into a box, before slicing and serving it to the customer. 

Picnic

Founded in 2016, the company develops a modular food robotics system that can be configured to perform any number of food preparation tasks. So far, the company is focusing on pizza. The robotic system can produce three hundred 30-centimeter pizzas per hour. 

Picnic has a Robotics-as-a-Service business model, under which the company delivers, installs and maintains equipment on a subscription basis. Customers also receive a range of services, including cloud analytics, round-the-clock performance monitoring and continuous free software and hardware updates. 

Robotic Kitchens

Spyce

The Boston company was founded in 2015 by four Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates and attracted tens of millions of dollars in investment. Spyce prepares healthy dishes with chicken and vegetables.

The robot is equipped with seven cooking vessels heated on an induction cooktop and constantly flips the food to ensure it is well seared. To develop the menu, the company hired Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud. 

Connected Robotics

Founded in 2014, the Tokyo-based company has already developed several robots used in food service establishments. One of the most popular devices is OctoChef, a robotic arm that uses deep learning to perform a range of kitchen tasks, including preparing the perfect octopus ball. 

OctoChef is mainly designed for routine kitchen work, such as pouring batter onto a griddle and mixing ingredients in a bowl. The robot uses computer vision to manage its tasks. 

Makr Shakr

For those who prefer strong drinks to tasty food, the Italian company Makr Shakr has developed a robot bartender named Tony. Controlled by an app, the robot has two mechanical arms that can shake and mix cocktails with "coordinated, dance-like movements". Tony can mix up to 80 drinks per hour, and it does not expect tips. 

Food Robotics Staff

Not all food robotics systems are designed for baking, cooking or mixing drinks. Some do other work. 

Dishcraft Robotics

Nobody likes washing dishes, so the company allocated millions of dollars to develop its device. It resembles an automatic dishwasher, but the company claims it uses artificial intelligence to make every dish perfectly clean. In addition, the robotic dishwasher reduces the use of disposable plates and other tableware. 

Bear Robotics

The startup developed a robot that moves and not only performs useful work but also attracts customers. The robot waiter can deliver food and drinks using indoor navigation, similar to self-driving cars. The company states that the robot was not created to replace millions of waiters, but to partially free them up to better serve customers.