Today, we’re celebrating the big 1-0 with a delicious digital cake. The inside is real though (it’s Samin Nosrat’s midnight cake). As a side dish, we’ll be serving a juicy, medium-rare-robotic-deep-dive.
Why Robots, DPo?
A question I asked myself several times while writing. They just keep showing up everywhere. Robots-in-the-wild (RIW), I’ve been calling them. First, I saw a a tray stacked robot delivering meat plates to hotpot patrons. Then, I read about this Japanese restaurant pumping out 3,600 rice squares per hour using their own machinery. Finally, I watched this compilation of robot delivery fails. And thus began a very long marathon into the world of autonomous food delivery robots.
Let’s dig in!!
What even are last-mile food delivery robots?
Simply put, these robots bring food from point A to point B, to varying distances and accuracy. All without a human. For our MBA-style-learners, here’s the breakdown:
Like a stack of trays, but with wheels and a voice.
We begin our voyage through the market with the world of food running and bussing robots (bottom left of the chart). You may find these at hotels with a sit down restaurant, senior living communities, and even movie theaters. They’re effectively a replacement to a traditional food runner, busser, and in many cases, a server. Oh, and people love to name them. Check out this grainy screenshot from a Denny’s robot:
Most companies in this space will cite the labor shortage, retention issues, and overall costs as the motivation to buy one. To be clear, I’m not a food labor expert. If I was, you could call me a food-la. Get it? Doula. Lol. Stretch joke.
According to the National Restaurant Association, 7 in 10 restaurant operators state they don’t have enough employees to meet demand. And on top of that, it’s projected that over 200k jobs will be added on a yearly basis. Operating costs are higher on all fronts too. For our can-we-just-summarize-this and move on readers, I found this comparative scenario of the same sales between two time points to be incredibly helpful:
These robots are offering a timely solution to the increasing challenge of profitability: less burden on your already strained staff and happier customers, all while being a cheaper alternative. Compared to market rate wages of $15-16 an hour in many geographies, the robots cost a few dollars per hour… depending on the model.
Buying one can range from several thousand dollars to $20,000 per robot. And according to my food-delivery-expert-friend, Neelesh, you get what you pay for.
The cheaper ones may miss their target, won’t be able to carry the load of plates, run out of capacity, or just spin in circles. I couldn’t find any review websites to compare the different companies… I feel like that should exist? Right now, many market these sleek designs with some jargon about their amazingness.
So, in summary, you’ll either solve parts of your labor challenges while providing a cool spectacle for patrons and helping your staff at the same time or create even more of a mess when the robot decides to leave the table before you’ve picked up your food.
Like a cooler, but on four wheels. And self-driving.
What is the technical name for these? Idk. Their value proposition is to offer a short-distance delivery with a solid amount of capacity, while moving at the pace of a human.
Anecdotally these seem to have the highest RIW sightings. RIW= Robots-In-the-Wild, keep up people!! Starship alone boasts 4 million deliveries thus far (mostly in college campuses). And recently, 7-Eleven made headlines with their slurpee/hotdog bite delivery served by Serve Robotics (pictured above). LA readers, you can check it out! Apparently, it will be a experience you’ll never forget:
"You never forget the first time you get your food from a robot. It is one of those defining moments in life like your first kiss," Serve Robotics CEO Ali Kashani (this-quote-is-real-source)
I remember my first. It was on Berkeley’s campus in 2017 and the Kiwibot robot got stuck somewhere between the restaurant and my location. Both Kiwibot and others have come a long way since then. They’re even partnered up with Grubhub now to deliver food on college campuses.
College campuses are a natural fit for these designs. Hungry students with limited budgets, short distances, and an environment that’s not too complex.
But what about a consumer angle?
Picture this: We all had a personal delivery robot and could send it off to local stores to fetch stuff for us. Need toothpaste? Send your robot. Need cat litter? Send your robot. Need to send your baby to school? Send them in your robot.
Everyone could decorate their robots. There would even be companies who sell robot accessories. Mustaches, eyelashes and bedazzling kits. I’m only kidding… but am I?? My robot would be named Roomba, as an ode to the original consumer robot. Okay. Let’s move on. I’m inching closer to another terrible joke.
Like a car, but with no windows and completely autonomous.
Last, but definitely not least, is the completely autonomous delivery cars. They’re designed specifically for last mile delivery, are much smaller than a car, and only carry goods (not humans). They sort of look like if a VW Beetle and a spaceship had a baby (but without windows). For my visual-style-learners, here’s a picture:
The baby pictured above is Nuro. They’re pioneering this space (valued at $8.6B) and are currently operating in Scottsdale, Houston, and the Bay Area. They boast partnerships with Dominos, Kroegers, Chipotle, Uber Eats and many more.
And although they have the big name logos, you may not actually see the cars nationally for a while. Scaling up is not so straightforward. Beyond the many iterations to the design they’ve been making over the past 5 years, there are loads of regulatory challenges in expansion.
Personally though, safety remained a top priority. I felt relieved to see this safety-sound-bite-snippet from their FAQ section:
The Nuro design is unique in that it’s hyper-specialized. And because it doesn’t carry any humans, it’s less risky compared to the traditional autonomous cars from companies like Cruise (although they’re launching a direct competitor in 2023) and Waymo. We’re still years away from seeing these nationally, but it’s pretty sci-fi stuff already. And luckily, our small child/pets will be seen.
Feeding our food deserts
Outside of offering yet another convenience option for metro cities, Nuro is uniquely positioned to impact the 20+ million people living in food deserts. A Medium article from a Nuro employee stated:
“We found that Nuro could reach 14 million low-income households in food deserts nationwide, or 70% of the total low-income population in food deserts… In Houston alone, we estimate that self-driving delivery services could reach 350,000 low-income people who live in food deserts.”
In doing additional research, I was surprised to find that in some food deserts, the issue is not necessary access to a digital food option, but rather, adoption of broadband (Source). In the same report, they highlight cities in which an increase in broadband adoption could measurably impact access to food sources:
It’s not clear how or if Nuro will change this, but it may be a necessary element to utilization of the tech.
Digesting this deep dive:
Phew. That’s all for the delivery robots. There’s a lot to unpack in the broader world of food automation. It’s a fascinating and increasingly important part of how we continue to scale and support our food systems, from metro cities to food deserts. But there is much more left to tackle in order to scale these. And of course, more ethical discourse to be had.
I plan to dig into this world some more. If you know folks in the food service automation industry please connect us! As a thank you, I’ll send you a Zucchini t-shirt!
What We’re Cooking
Topping off our tenth edition with a home-cooked feast:
Alright folks, thanks for tuning into Edition 10. Have you seen any RIWs lately? What would you name yours? Comment with any gems!!
A big thank you to Neelesh Mittal, our resident food-delivery-robot expert.
I just went to a Robot Cat delivery Dim Sum restaurant:
https://ny.eater.com/2022/7/28/23271442/robot-cats-nyc-dim-sum-restaurants
Human arms were the last last mile delivery :)
In this intriguing blog post, the author delves into the world of last-mile food delivery and its impact on various products, including our beloved ice cream. The article discusses how efficient delivery systems are crucial, especially for perishable items like ice cream. The parallels drawn between the challenges of delivering food and ensuring ice cream arrives in a pristine state are eye-opening. The author's insights into the logistical aspects of food and ice cream delivery add a unique perspective to the conversation. The fusion of the ice cream theme with the broader discussion of food delivery makes this piece not only relevant but also thought-provoking.
For More Info:- https://victoriawholefoods.ca/