“It’s not quite glamorous for automation


but simply having this single source of truth for menus automates the process of changing things and unlocks the ability to make most of the channels,” he says. “Real-time changes can be made to the delivery menu and seasonal changes too. Any product can be made out of stock and you can throttle the availability of delivery – all from one screen.” Liddle cites YO! as having changed its sys-


tems in 2020 as it was forced to switch to 100% digital ordering during Covid. “Quick-service restaurants were the first to have felt the pain, from having to maximise a growing num- ber of channels; this was followed by coffee, then fast casual dining, including YO!, and now casual dining is starting to get it. All res- taurant formats will want to automate their processes and the need is the greatest where most channels are used,” he says. Where there has been less traction is with automating the production of food. Bensi says: “Back of house is a lot tougher. Robotic arms making things like bread will not happen any time soon. The costs are also very high.” This is not deterring some large chains in the US with menus more suited to automating certain tasks. At the forefront of this activity is healthy


food brand Sweetgreen, which is developing what it calls its Infinite Kitchens to automate the building of its salad bowls. The company has ambitiously stated that it expects all its units to be automated within five years. Chipotle is also pushing ahead with its make-line system from robotics firm Hyphen, which is focused on automating the creation of bowl food. Notably, other dishes, such as its burritos and quesadillas, are still made by human hand, which highlights the great complexity for robots in preparing foods.


Michelin-starred garnishes


Indoor vertical farms have had a tough time in recent years as a result of the high investment needed to scale them up for supplying major retailers along with rising utility bills, but they are proving popular in high-end restaurants and bars. One operator in the field is Evogro, which is funded by the same investor – PVL – as Inamo Restaurants, and has attracted some clients who use its integrated horticultural system for growing fresh produce. The likes of the Ritz London, Claridge’s and Hide have installed its fridge-like units that use hydroponics, LED lighting and cameras for rapidly growing a range of produce that is all dealt with automatically via IoT (Internet of Things) technology. This enables the growing process to be


remotely monitored by Evogro and for the operators to simply order the seed packs and harvest the produce when it is ready. Hunwick says: “For high-end Michelin- starred places where you are using the produce in dishes and for garnish on cocktails, there is a return on investment with these units.”


www.thecaterer.com Technology Prospectus 2024 | 45


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