Chipotle uses robots to prepare guacamole
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s new robot can make guacamole in half the time it takes a human to prepare a meal, the restaurant chain said Wednesday when it unveiled the device.
The so-called Autocado is designed to handle the labor-intensive task of prepping, slicing, coreing and peeling 25 pounds of avocado all at once. By contrast, Chipotle said it takes employees about 50 minutes to prepare a batch of wak. According to the company, human workers will continue to add other ingredients and mix them for finishing.
Chipotle uses Autocado in its test kitchens in California. The company declined to say whether the machine will eventually be installed in its approximately 3,200 locations around the world.
“While the heavy lifting of cutting, cored and scooping avocados is alleviated with Autocado, we still maintain the all-important culinary experience of hand-mashing and preparing our guacamole to exacting standards. Chipotle’s chief customer and technology officer, Kurt Garner, said. in a statement.
Autocado, developed by California robotics and automation company Vebu Labs in partnership with Chipotle, stacks groups of avocados vertically and removes the skin and core. The rest of the meat is dropped into a stainless steel bowl and Chipotle employees take it out and use it as a base for the guacamole.
Vebu CEO Buck Jordan said in a statement that the company’s technology will help make Chipotle’s guacamole “more efficiently than ever before.” Vebu also said that using artificial intelligence he wants to improve Autocado by teaching it to evaluate the ripeness of avocados.
Chipotle is also testing the use of robots to make tortilla chips. A robotic kitchen assistant called Chippy debuted in a California location last year.
Other restaurants are also increasingly turning to robotics, AI and robotics to cut down on routine tasks.Restaurant chain sweet green It was opened Earlier this year, a kitchen in the Chicago suburb of Naperville used AI to make salads. The place is still staffed by humans to finalize orders.
CKE Restaurants, which owns Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, Said In May, the company announced it was using an AI called Tori to take orders at its drive-thru, and McDonald’s said it was using similar technology at some drive-thru.
Chipotle shares were flat Wednesday afternoon, trading at $2,070 a share.
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