CNN –
Your chipotle guacamole could soon be prepared by a robot.
Meet “Autocado,” a Chipotle robot that handles the more tedious tasks of the chain’s guacamole-making, including slicing, pitting, and peeling avocados. With the prototype robot — which, to be honest, looks more like a boxy silver fridge than a humanoid — Chipotle joins the growing ranks of fast-food companies using robotic technology to cut costs.
For Chipotle (CMG), the decision to automate this back-of-house task comes at a time of labor shortages in the restaurant industry. In May there were 1.2 million job openings in restaurants and lodging establishments in the US. Before the pandemic, the number of job vacancies in the industry surpassed the 1 million mark only once in the last 20 years. But Chipotle (CMG) said this “collaborative robot” won’t eliminate jobs, instead employees would work with the robot to speed up guacamole production.
An employee mashes the avocados with other ingredients like salt, lime juice and jalapenos to get the creamy texture of the guacamole.
“It’s important for us to maintain the guacamole experience and prepare it exactly to our standards,” said Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief customer and technology officer. “The device was specifically designed for Chipotle with the goal of alleviating identified vulnerabilities for restaurant workers.”
Patrick T Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Guacamole and tortilla chips are arranged for a photograph at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in El Segundo, California, on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.
It takes just under an hour to prepare a serving of guacamole, but the Autocado has the potential to cut that time in half and save the Mexican fast-casual food chain $50 million if successful, the company says.
These changes are representative of a larger trend toward automating tasks in restaurants. Hamburger chain White Castle has implemented a robot called Flippy 2 that will take over the restaurant’s entire frying station. And restaurants are rolling out drive-throughs powered by artificial intelligence across the country.
To use the autocado, an employee loads up to 25 pounds of avocados into it. The fruit is then cut in half, the pits and skin removed, and the cut and peeled avocados collected in a bowl. (Yes, it’s a fruit.)
Chipotle buys over 100 million pounds of avocados each year, the company said.
There are already automated avocado peeling machines. But Autocado is designed specifically for Chipotle’s needs and is proprietary, the company says.
For the design, Chipotle worked with Vebu Labs, a robotics startup in California, to analyze the prep process at various Chipotle restaurants and identify the most time-consuming tasks for staff.
Chipotle has invested in Vebu as part of the company’s $50 million project, Cultivate Next.
Dishwashing robots could be next, the company said. And Chipotle is already testing “Chippy,” a robotic kitchen assistant that uses artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips that you can dip in Autocado’s guacamole.