From drive-thru service to back-office service to predictive ordering for consumers, restaurant brands are starting to pilot AI to improve food service.
The technology has not yet reached critical mass in large chains, nevertheless it has the potential to automate more tasks and give restaurant staff the power to have a more meaningful diner experience.
Analysts say a key profit is the power to ease labor challenges in an ever tight employment market. The National Restaurant Association predicts that there can be 500,000 jobs within the industry by the tip of 2023, but notes that currently there is just one job seeker for each two positions open.
What’s more, TD Cowen estimates that voice-enabled AI can increase sales by up to 15% through suggestive sales, in addition to speed up service time by 10 seconds.
According to Andrew Charles, managing director of consumer and restaurant affairs at TD Cowen, the shift within the industry is paying homage to the emergence of third party delivery services five years ago, before it was ubiquitous in almost every major restaurant operator.
“Some have tried it, others are considering it, most have been piloting it,” he said of third-party applications for delivery services. “I feel there’s a transparent analog to today where it’s extremely similar, and as we proceed to see this proceed to take hold, you are going to see a knock-on effect here.”
But there are still obstacles to widespread adoption, according to Charles. A lot of these large restaurant chains need to get franchisees on board. Language barriers and menu nuances can add complexity to the ordering process where AI may not find a way to navigate.
Meanwhile, a wave of pilot programs has already begun.
Last month Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s parent company, CKE, have announced that they intend to bring AI integration nationwide through a partnership with Presto and artificial intelligence OpenCity.
Yummy! brands has been a pacesetter in using AI to streamline operations lately, including the 2021 acquisition of Dragontail to improve food preparation and delivery. The technology, which automates kitchen flow, dispatching drivers and tracking customer orders, is used at 1,000 Pizza Hut locations within the US and nearly 3,000 more world wide. The corporate also relies on AI for its beneficial ordering module, which tells managers what number of items to order per week.
McDonald’s, for its part, sold McD Tech Labs to IBM in 2021, forging a strategic partnership to help bring AI technology to automotive lanes. McD Tech Labs, which was formerly referred to as Apprente before McDonald’s acquired it, used AI to understand drive-thru orders. Up to now, McDonald’s has tested the technology in some locations.
Del Taco also uses voice-activated AI for orders in its drive-thru as-is Wingstop for orders placed over the phone.
Panera Bread has also invested in technology in each front-of-house and back-of-house operations. It really works with OpenCity AI for drive-thru voice orders and with Miso Robotics for coffee quality assurance and temperature control for enhanced product consistency.
For Panera, it’s an issue of “How to shift our employees to the next value and higher quality guest experience,” said Chief Digital Officer George Hanson. “Whether or not they spend more time preparing food and quality control or interacting in person,” Hanson told CNBC in an interview.
“It might be just hanging around within the dining room and asking them how their meal is or in the event that they can take a table – just those warm interactions. We consider that the next value.”
Chipotle is testing an autonomous kitchen assistant, Chippy, which offers a robotic solution for making French fries in restaurants.
Courtesy of Chipotle
Chipotletechnological leader within the restaurant space, has also partnered with Miso Robotics, introducing Chippy, his chip making robot currently installed cooking chips at a restaurant in Fountain Valley, California. Using artificial intelligence, Chippy was trained to replicate the brand’s exact recipe for chips with salt and fresh lime juice. The following iteration of Chippy can even determine the quantity of chips to be produced.
The corporate has also implemented AI in its suggestive ordering application and uses camera systems within the Cultivate Center test kitchen to provide real-time data on the quantity of product needed based on the number of shoppers to be more predictable and less reactive.
Curt Garner, chief customer and technology officer, told CNBC that AI and robotics hope to enhance and improve the experience of individuals in the corporate’s restaurants.
“[It’s] helping crew members, managers, team adapt to their current environment as a tool, but not removing them from the equation of serving our guests and running the ship,” he said.