by Katie Sabatini, RD, LDN 1 HOUR CE CBDM Approved SAN Automation Innovation Cobots and Other Technologies for Your Kitchen

FOOD PROTECTION CONNECTION

Robots in your kitchen may help you increase efficiency and enhance food safety

What would you do if a résumé came across your desk for I clean up after every task. a foodservice worker that read like this? Food safety is my top priority. I am dependable—I never take a sick day and don’t go on I’d say, “You’re hired!” This is the future of foodservice vacation. robotics. I am polite and always say excuse me. AUTOMATION: PAST, PRESENT, I will memorize your kitchen layout and move with maximum AND FUTURE efficiency side-by-side with my co-workers. Food-centric robots are gradually making an entrance into I don’t expect to be paid for overtime—in fact, I work for free. the industry, offering options for completing tasks more I will never raise an HR complaint or cause a labor dispute. economically and efficiently than human counterparts. I am not a member of the union. Robotic technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and other I don’t require any training. technological developments are among some of the latest I never make a mistake. innovations being adopted in commercial kitchens to increase efficiencies and uniformity, drive sales, bolster I work safely and never get hurt. food safety, and automate the foodservice industry. 10 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | July-August 2019 [email protected]

Now, before you say, “this experimentation with the cobots that may change Katie Clay Sabatini, RD, is crazy,” robots are not cutting-edge automation the face of foodservice LDN is the Food Safety taking jobs away from machinery and production operations. and Quality Assurance humans quite yet, but they techniques, which allowed Manager for Hershey Flippy Entertainment and sure are playing a key role fresh-made dishes to be Resorts, where she puts in advancing the future of offered at affordable prices Developed by Miso into practice her passion dining in multiple ways. to thousands of customers Robotics, Flippy is the first for food safety. Sabatini each day. Later, the focus intuitive robotic kitchen has comprehensive Automation exists to shifted to the elimination assistant—referred to as a knowledge of industry improve the quality of food safety application, of kitchen personnel cobot because it can work human lives. This is not implementation, and through streamlined alongside humans. Flippy a new concept. We have management. She food preparation and grills, fries, prepares, been trying to automate received her BS in mechanized tasks ensuring and plates food, and, nutrition & dietetics food service for a long predictable results with can even take product from the University of time. The idea of replacing standardized portions, temperatures with built-in Delaware, and is actively servers and kitchen staff completing her MS in consistent product, thermal “eye” sensors and may sound futuristic, but food safety at Michigan and fast cooking times. has real-time decision- in fact vending machines State University. Temperature-controlled making capabilities. Flippy began dispensing food as glass door compartments is unique in that it’s not early as the late 1800s. The allowed the customer just a task functional first successful attempt at to ‘window shop’ their full automation in food Continued on page 12 meal and select whatever service took place in Berlin, their stomach hungered Germany in 1895 and it was for. Automats were wildly called Quisisana. Quisisana popular in their heyday, A cobot is a was an automat, which is however the emergence essentially a quick-serve, robot designed of fast food restaurants unmanned restaurant gradually phased out this to physically where simple foods and service style for the novelty beverages are served by of new, better, and different interact multiple vending machines options. Philadelphia’s last (before there were fast food with human automat closed its doors restaurants). By 1902, Horn in 1991. Today, automats and Hardart opened the coworkers. continue to thrive overseas first automat in the United in the Netherlands, where States in Philadelphia, Pa. there is a popular chain In the U.S., automats were called FEBO, and are also an East Coast phenomenon. found in Japan. Proponents of restaurant automation have long MEET THE argued that it is more ROBOTS sanitary and efficient, and A cobot or co-robot results in lower prices for (collaborative robot) is a customers. robot designed to physically The greatest success interact with human of automats was their coworkers. Meet some of

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robot, through AI Flippy Sally reduces the chance seven flavors of Dannon is aware and responsive to for cross-contamination, YoCream and six different the changing dynamics of making it a safer choice for toppings almost anywhere, the kitchen environment guests with food allergies. providing customers a fully and actually learns new The ingredients still require customizable frozen sweet skills and continuously human preparation and treat without any human improves over time—a restocking of the unit. involvement. somewhat frightening Chowbotics notes that and yet extremely Sally also offers an “eat- Spyce promising development in o-tainment” opportunity In 2018, four M.I.T. technological advancement. to watch your salad be graduates opened this Flippy automatically assembled in front of you by Boston restaurant that switches tools for raw and a machine. is comprised of a self- cooked products and cleans cleaning robotic kitchen up after itself (tools and the Bruno, Pepe, Giorgio, that can prepare a meal in grill). Additionally, Flippy and Vincenzo under three minutes and is is OSHA safety compliant Zume Pizza is a largely approved by the National and is fully wipe/wash- robotic operation backed Sanitation Foundation down compatible. This by AI with locations across (NSF). makes Flippy the ideal the San Francisco Bay area. Wall-E employee from a food safety Humans still top the pizzas standpoint! here, but Bruno loads pizzas In China, this completely into the oven, Pepe and human-free restaurant Sally the Salad Robot Giorgio are the sauce bots, consists of 30 robots Developed by Chowbotics and Vincenzo eliminates the that process orders and Inc., Sally is a freestanding dangerous human task of payments, prepare and cook vending machine robot removing hot dough from the food, and serve it to that prepares about 1,000 the 800 degree oven. customers. different customized O T H E R salads from 22 refrigerated Motoman SDA5/ AUTOMATED fresh ingredients that are Suzumo Sushi Chef TECHNOLOGIES precisely and accurately This robotic sushi chef ENHANCING FOOD measured using nutritional can roll up to 3,600 pieces SERVICE data programmed into of sushi, nigiri, or maki the robot in less than 60 per hour, far surpassing The Internet of Things (IoT) THE FIRST WAVE OF seconds. Sally also prepares its human counterparts’ is defined asthe extension AUTOMATION yogurt parfaits and grain productivity. of internet connectivity into has squarely hit the bowls with plans to expand physical devices and everyday Froyo Robot her culinary repertoire in objects. IoT connects front of the house with the future. An additional Like Redbox disrupted machines, devices, objects, many popular brands benefit of Sally is that she is the video store, the Froyo people, and animals to one we dine at regularly much more hygienic than Robot—developed by another by transferring salads prepared by human Generation Next—may data over a network utilizing automation ruin self-serve frozen without requiring human- hands or even worse, a and other disruptive self-service salad bar where yogurt shops. The vending to-human or human-to- germs abound. And, robot can dispense computer interaction, but technologies...

12 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | July-August 2019 rather providing each with unique identifiers (UIDs) and While automation will not replace or eliminate human jobs sensors able to capture and transmit data. IoT will allow entirely, it will most definitely affect a portion of almost all industries including food service to become more efficient, jobs to some degree. According to the McKinsey Global automated, and safer, and have farther reach and increased Institute, the service sector that is most likely to see connectivity, all providing greater overall value to the automation due to its technical potential is food service consumer. and hospitality, with 73 percent of activities performed by human workers in this segment having the potential According to the National Restaurant Association, the first for automation due to the high level of predictability of wave of automation has squarely hit the front of the house tasks and operation of machinery. Some of the tasks that with many popular brands we dine at regularly utilizing are prime for automation include: preparing, cooking, automation and other disruptive technologies to change portioning, and serving foods and beverages; cleaning and the traditional model of food service including order sanitizing food and non-food contact surfaces; collecting placement and payment innovations (i.e. kiosk, remote— and ware washing dirty dishes; and putting away clean like phone apps and voice—think Alexa) as well as self- dishes. serve and pick-up options (i.e. lockers and beacon/spotlight systems) to name a few. However, as the automation curve Technology isn’t replacing foodservice workers, it’s filling continues, the back of the house in commercial kitchens is an expanding void in the labor market, allowing food the next likely target ripe for technological innovation. service to streamline operations and deliver true value to customers. THE LABOR SHORTAGE AND TECHNOLOGY A McDonald’s spokesperson stated bluntly, “the tremendous margin of human error, poor hygiene, lack According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, of education, and laziness” as reasons to move towards unemployment is at a half century low. Not since 1969 automation in food service. have we seen the rate below 3.6 percent, which is what was reported in April 2019. The restaurant industry has However, just because an activity can be automated, long faced a labor shortage. The lowest paying, menial, doesn’t mean it will be. Other factors must be taken into entry-level tasks of food service have been a hard sell for consideration with automation including: many years. However, only recently, has this issue crossed • The cost of development and deployment of hardware the divide into healthcare food service. For many years, and software healthcare and institutional foodservice operations did • The cost, availability, and skillset of labor not face the same labor shortages seen in the rest of the industry because hours of operation were more humane, • Other benefits, like higher output through increased pay was better, and most importantly, benefits were offered. speed; improved quality, accuracy, and product consistency; fewer errors; and a safer work environment Minimum wage increases for lower-skilled workers at large • Regulatory and social factors related to technology corporations like Amazon and Walmart are making the acceptance competition for talent much more difficult for foodservice operations. Sure, menus can be pared down and simplified FOOD SAFETY and cross training provided to every new hire, but this does A slew of self-cleaning kitchen innovations have already not appear to be enough to fill the void. Some companies entered the market to assist in commercial kitchens to are going beyond traditional hiring practices and offering reduce labor and improve food safety and sanitation. Self- sign-on bonuses for food prep workers and cooks; doing cleaning ovens; cook-and-hold units allowing unstaffed social media hiring campaigns; throwing “hiring parties” product preparation; labor-saving dish machines that with food and beverage for attendees; and offering are more effective, simpler, and result in better cleaning applicants the opportunity to “make your own schedule” as enticement methods, in hopes of filling vacant positions. Continued on page 14

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abilities; and robots that clean utensils, grills, workspaces, and floors. Employees are the greatest asset and greatest risk in any foodservice operation. Reduced contact with human hands AS CONSUMERS BECOME MORE can reduce pathogen transfer. And, advancements may soon give robots the ability to detect pathogens in the COMFORTABLE WITH TECHNOLOGICAL foods they are preparing. INTERACTION, the wariness of robots and FUTURE OUTLOOK other automations will wane, allowing food If (or when) computers gain the ability of insight and service to tap into innovation that will better can understand human language and comprehensively meet customer expectations. recognize everyday communication and interaction between people, the technological breakthrough would revolutionize the foodservice industry.

Advanced equipment technologies, AI, robotics, and market—then recall the price just a few short years later— the IoT will cause rapid paradigm shifts in foodservice pennies on the dollar). Understanding rapidly-changing operations across the entire supply chain. Determining customer demands will drive the appropriate technologies what is available, viable, and meets consumer expectations for your foodservice operation because ultimately, the will be the biggest challenges moving forward. Technology customer is our business, so we need to provide the best advances at such a fast rate that it keeps a lot of people on solution for them in order to be successful. the shore and prevents them from jumping in the water, for fear of not being able to amortize the technological costs As consumers become more and more comfortable with before they become obsolete (think about the exorbitant technological interaction, the wariness of robots and other cost of VCRs and video cameras when they first hit the automations will wane, and the ability of food service to tap

REFERENCES

• https://www.chowbotics.com • https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/coin-op-cuisine/ • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things • https://fesmag.com/features/foodservice-issues/15850-the-future-of-automation-in-foodservice • https://www.foodservicedirector.com/workforce/keys-solving-staff-shortage-cross-training-simplification • https://www.hvs.com/article/8232-the-growing-use-of-technology-and-robotics-in-food-service • https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/where-machines-could-replace-humans-and-where-they-cant- yet • https://medium.com/american-restaurant-supply/automation-in-the-food-service-industry-where-are-we-now-and-what-does-it-mean- 8a748e66ef3b • https://www.misorobotics.com • https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/when-a-robot-makes-you-dinner • https://www.nrn.com/technology/tech-tracker-robots-automation-dominate-nra-food-show • https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2015/09/16/automation-part-i-the-disappearing-server/ • https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2015/11/16/automation-part-ii-the-disappearing-kitchen/ • https://www.specialtyfood.com/news/article/foodservice-tech-robots-kitchen/ • https://themediastudentsblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/the-internet-of-things-a-study-in-infographics • https://thespoon.tech/zume-unveils-its-new-pizza-robot-vincenzo/ • Smith, D. (2019). The robot revolution is here. QSR Magazine. 40-46.

14 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | July-August 2019 into technology and innovation will create your commercial kitchen in the not so a successful platform to meet customer distant future and see humans working expectations which are rising by the day. side-by-side with their cobots. E Only the future knows what will happen, but don’t be surprised if you look out into

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1. What does IoT stand for? 5. The first wave of foodservice automation and disruptive A. Internet of Time technologies have focused on front of the house tasks and processes. B. Interspatial Ordinance of Things A. True C. Internet of Things B. False 2. Which is not a foodservice robot currently in operation? 6. In regard to food safety, which of the following does Flippy the A. Sally robot not do? B. Bruno A. Mop floors C. Huey B. Switch utensils between raw and cooked product 3. The first Automat was located in ______. C. Clean the grill A. The Netherlands 7. Technology and automation in food service is not B. Berlin ______. C. Philadelphia A. Filling an expanding void in the labor market 4. The foodservice and hospitality industry has the potential B. Replacing foodservice workers to see what percentage of automation, according to the C. Allowing food service to streamline operations and deliver McKinsey Global Institute? true value to customers A. 73 percent B. 91 percent MAKE YOUR CE HOURS AUDIT PROOF C. 37 percent ATTENTION CDM, CFPPs! Purchase your online CE products in the ANFP Marketplace and your completed CE hours will be automatically reported in your continuing education record. This includes all ANFP online courses, archived webinars, and online CE articles.

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