Even faster food: how robots are revolutionising restaurants

Compass Group gives time back to staff with Autocanteen

Compass Group has launched AI-powered self-checkouts from Autocanteen for the staff restaurant of a banking client in London’s Canary Wharf. The checkouts identify anything from a piece of fruit to a meal plate by using algorithms matched with 3D image scanners that allow them to accurately recognise objects.

The self-service terminals have enhanced speed of service, reduced queues and freed up employees from the monotonous checkout function. Without the need to scan barcodes, the checkout process can be completed in an average of 10 seconds.

The team has been able to trade from day one, with 10,000 transactions exceeding £60,000 in total via four terminals in the first month. Throughput was initially around 10-11 transactions per minute, and now Compass Group has added three extra terminals, this is expected to increase to 16 transactions per minute at peak times. Without the need to manually process up to 700 orders daily, the queues have shortened and the team can focus on improved customer service.

It’s expected that the checkouts will show a significant return on investment of more than 120% from facilitating around 110,000 transactions valued at £700,000 per year and freeing up three people from processing tasks. Most savings will come from deploying labour elsewhere in the business.

The head of corporate services at the banking client says: “The AI self-checkout is a great example of how we’re digitising and improving our colleague experience. The innovative scanning technology means that our colleagues don’t have to scan a single barcode to self-checkout. The system learns from each transaction, meaning that it’s becoming quicker and more accurate by the day.”

Unalome by Graeme Cheevers batch-cooks with with Rational

Fine dining restaurant Unalome by Graeme Cheevers in Glasgow has streamlined and automated its kitchen with technology from Rational. The kitchen has installed the iVario kit, which enables multi-functionality from single appliances, such as the Pro cooker.

Graeme Cheevers, head chef at Unalome, says: “We use the Pro cooker for everything. We use it to bake our own bread and to prepare batches of canapés throughout the day, knowing that they’ll come out exactly as we want them thanks to the programmable recipes.”

The kit’s self-cleaning functionality has also proved popular among the kitchen team: “Not having to hang around at the end of the day cleaning it has been a big hit,” he says. “We just put on the self-clean cycle and go home.”

Scheduled cleaning cycles without staff involvement can be integrated into daily operations, such as between meal services or according to working schedules, and cleaning routines can be programmed based on appliance usage patterns.

The Rational range includes another automatic appliance, the iCombi Pro combi-steamer. Operator select a cooking outcome, such as browning level or cooking level, and the sensors analyse the food’s characteristics – size, quantity and condition – and adjust parameters such as temperature, cabinet climate, air speed and cooking time to achieve it.

Wingshack employs reactive marketing with Big Appetite Co

Chicken wing restaurant Wingshack is using AI to more efficiently run its business across everything from staff rotas to marketing campaigns. Joshua Jarvis, founder of Wingshack, says: “AI is revolutionary. It’s a step ahead of other technologies out there and, for me it, will have a bigger impact than the internet. If you are not using AI, you are shooting yourself in the foot. We can replicate what a big corporate can do with only two people, and we’re using tools already on the market, which is crazy.”

“If you are not using AI, you are shooting yourself in the foot”

Wingshack is reacting to feedback from reviews and comments through ChatGPT as well as using a variety of AI tools, such as transcription programme Otter and workforce efficiency software Nory, to manage its chatbot, inventory and staff rotas by understanding daily patterns and forecasting accurately. This helps save on staff costs and reduces food waste.

Jarvis says he is also running promotions and marketing campaigns using AI tools that help automate the process of collecting data and analysing myriad data points to determine an effective strategy.

His confidence in the impact of AI has led him to create Big Appetite Co, which offers a suite of tools to restaurants to enable them to leverage the value from AI. “At the moment it’s a consulting business using third-party tools, but we are fundraising to bring in our own developers and to hire a chief technology officer,” he says.

How seamless ordering reduces labour costs

Growing numbers of restaurateurs are investigating the automation of processes at the front-end of their businesses to help offset increasing labour costs and boost throughput at busy times.

Emilio Malik, co-founder of Lazeez Lebanese Tapas in London, says he is launching Tahina restaurant in Canary Wharf that will operate autonomously using technology similar to the ‘Just Walk Out’ solution developed by Amazon for some of its convenience stores.

This will involve it using AI-intelligent weight-sensitive shelving and an array of cameras that detect when the plant-based dishes have been taken from the shelves. Since customers will tap their payment card on entry to the restaurant, the whole process from that point on will be seamless.

The initial unit will be 800 sq ft-1,000 sq ft, but Malik can foresee future outlets fitting into a space as small as 300 sq ft-400 sq ft. “The future will be plug-and-play stores in places like hospitals,” he says. The model works on having a central kitchen and the reduced labour costs and efficiency boost will enable its to adopt a price point somewhere between Greggs and Wasabi.

Healthy takeaway restaurant the Salad Project has recently opened a trial small footprint store in the City of London that focuses on promoting order-ahead and click and collect.

Florian de Chezelles, co-founder of the Salad Project, says the split is currently 65% click and collect and 35% order in-store – through tapping on near-field communication chip cards that take customers to the menu and ordering page – but he hopes to ultimately remove the order in-store element. This would significantly enhance the ability of the company to handle the high throughput of orders at the peak lunchtime period. The future model also involves a greater use of the app and the loyalty programme.