FOOD & DRINK
THE HIGH-TECH RESTAURANT KITCHEN
Kitchen robots will soon be coming to a restaurant near you. Jeremy Bennett from Tork manufacturer Essity, looks at how automated systems could help to reduce the food-handling risk – and considers whether they will make today’s stringent hand hygiene requirements less crucial in the future.
Creating a top-class meal requires a range of skills. A good chef needs to be capable of working at speed and under high pressure. And he or she should be creative, dexterous and efficient to be able to produce top quality dishes to order. But could a robot achieve the same goals?
Automated ‘chefs’ with articulated arms are increasingly being used in commercial kitchens to carry out actions such as chopping, stirring and assembling ingredients.
These can also incorporate sensors and cameras that gather data about the food being cooked. They will record details such as the temperature and colour of the dish being prepared. And they can also be programmed to follow specific recipes.
It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this is already happening in restaurants around the world.
In Croatia a robot named GammaChef is cooking up one-pot meals including Thai curries, pasta and gnocchi at Zagreb-based Bots and Pots, while burgers and chips are being fried using state-of-the-art robotics at Pasadena’s CaliExpress.
Tokyo's E Vino Spaghetti has an automated pasta chef that uses image recognition technology to prepare pasta dishes in just 45 seconds. And US salad chain Sweetgreen assembles 500 salads per hour by dispensing measured portions of ingredients into bowls via a conveyor belt.
The market for kitchen robots in the US was estimated to be worth around US$1.7bn in 2020, and is expected to grow to US$4.4bn in 2028.
42 | TOMORROW’S FM
Cooking robots have various benefits. They can take on tedious manual tasks without tiring, for example. They are also said to enhance efficiency, precision and convenience in the kitchen. They also reduce the need for humans to manually handle food items, a practice that can lead to cross-contamination and food poisoning.
But whether humans or robots are doing the lion’s share of the cooking, all surfaces and equipment still need to be kept scrupulously clean. Here again, technology can help.
A growing number of businesses are using autonomous cleaning robots that can navigate kitchen spaces, detect spills and sanitise surfaces with the aid of sensors. These robots offer a hands-free solution which means they help to prevent food contamination while also freeing up time and resources to allow staff to focus on other tasks.
So, is technology the future of commercial kitchen management? And with reduced levels of food contact taking place will still there be a need for humans – ones with clean hands – in tomorrow’s restaurant?
As it happens, current high-tech kitchen solutions have a number drawbacks. The upfront costs of cooking robot technology start at more than US$250,000, which will prove to be a substantial barrier for many businesses.
Human intervention is often still required in the food preparation process, too. Tokyo's E Vino Spaghetti relies on human staff members to add the finishing touches to all dishes, while kitchen staff at Sweetgreen are required to marinate meats, chop vegetables and make the dressings.
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
