Latest news with #Autocado
Business Insider
05-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The CEOs of Din Tai Fung think robots would ruin their iconic soup dumplings
Din Tai Fung is keeping machines out of the kitchen for now. The chain's chiefs say making their iconic pork dumplings, with their precise 18 folds, is delicate work. A machine making them would mean "sacrificing heavily on the quality," CEO Aaron Yang told BI. Din Tai Fung thinks robots aren't good enough to make their iconic pork soup dumplings. The Taiwanese chain's North America CEO, Aaron Yang, said Din Tai Fung's xiao long baos, which are known for being pleated at the top with exactly 18 folds, are "very, very delicate." Yang, 33, leads the company alongside his brother, Albert Yang, 32. And they make a lot of them — Din Tai Fung sells an average of 10,000 handmade xiao long baos every day at each of its North American outlets, the chain told BI. It has over 173 outlets in 13 countries, including the US, Canada, and the UK. "The way we make the skins, they're paper thin yet strong enough to hold the soup inside," said Yang. "We are just very uncompromising about quality," he said. "We've seen machines make soup dumplings, and you're definitely sacrificing heavily on the quality." Yang said their compromise with automation in the kitchen was to deploy it in areas where "it doesn't affect quality," like having a little robot helping the staff run to deliver orders. "In New York, our kitchen is pretty far away from the takeout area. So we actually have a little robot that runs back and forth delivering the finished takeout bags from the kitchen to the front," he said. Before the robot was deployed, one person walked back and forth in the restaurant throughout the day. The human touch Din Tai Fung's take on automation is in line with that of other chains like Chipotle and Shake Shack, which have both largely kept machines out of the kitchen for the time being. "We still believe the best way to Chipotle is down the line with a team member, highly customized, great variety, big, beautiful burritos and bowls down the line," Chipotle's CEO, Scott Boatwright, said on an episode of Yahoo Finance's "Opening Bid" podcast that aired in December. Boatwright added that human interaction is "a core equity of the Chipotle brand." Chipotle di, tap a robot called" Autocado" in July 2023 to cut, core, and peel avocados, reducing the amount of time needed for the task by half. Shake Shack's CEO, Danny Meyer, said in a December episode of "Opening Bid" that he did not plan to increase automation in his chain. "I think when it comes to making the product, there's something about the human touch, smashing that burger, seasoning the burger, flipping the burger, knowing exactly when it is time to come off, where not any two burgers at Shake Shack taste exactly the same," Meyer said. Starbucks is taking a similar approach, leaving the crafting of drinks to their baristas but rolling out an AI tool that helps baristas remember drink recipes.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Delivery robot firm Serve Robotics expands to Miami in first East Coast launch
(Reuters) - Serve Robotics said on Wednesday it was rolling out its sidewalk delivery robot services in Miami, marking its first expansion to the East Coast as part of its goal to deploy 2,000 robots across the United States by the end of 2025. Serve is also strengthening its partnership with fast-food chain Shake Shack and signing on pizzeria Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza as a new client, as part of its entry into the market. Customers who place orders on Uber Eats from select Shake Shack and Mister O1 locations in the Brickell and Miami Beach neighborhoods will receive some upcoming orders through Serve's autonomous delivery robots, the company said. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. San Francisco-based Serve is currently operational in Los Angeles and its planned expansion to the Dallas-Fort Worth market is underway, with the rollout expected by the end of the second quarter. "Everywhere you go, the environment is a little bit different... We had some learnings about how to adapt and train our models when we go to a new location (from our experience in Los Angeles), and we're employing the same playbook here," co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani said in an interview. Serve will also partner with more local restaurants in Miami, Kashani said. The company has been scaling up its operations to become the go-to automation tech supplier for restaurants. It struck a deal in November to acquire Vebu, the company behind the avocado processing robot 'Autocado' seen at burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. Serve has an agreement with Uber Eats to deploy 2,000 robots by the end of this year. In November, the company saw a 97% year-on-year increase in daily active robots for the September-ended quarter.
Reuters
19-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Delivery robot firm Serve Robotics expands to Miami in first East Coast launch
Feb 19 (Reuters) - Serve Robotics (SERV.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday it was rolling out its sidewalk delivery robot services in Miami, marking its first expansion to the East Coast as part of its goal to deploy 2,000 robots across the United States by the end of 2025. Serve is also strengthening its partnership with fast-food chain Shake Shack (SHAK.N), opens new tab and signing on pizzeria Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza as a new client, as part of its entry into the market. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Customers who place orders on Uber Eats (UBER.N), opens new tab from select Shake Shack and Mister O1 locations in the Brickell and Miami Beach neighborhoods will receive some upcoming orders through Serve's autonomous delivery robots, the company said. San Francisco-based Serve is currently operational in Los Angeles and its planned expansion to the Dallas-Fort Worth market is underway, with the rollout expected by the end of the second quarter. "Everywhere you go, the environment is a little bit different... We had some learnings about how to adapt and train our models when we go to a new location (from our experience in Los Angeles), and we're employing the same playbook here," co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani said in an interview. Serve will also partner with more local restaurants in Miami, Kashani said. The company has been scaling up its operations to become the go-to automation tech supplier for restaurants. It struck a deal in November to acquire Vebu, the company behind the avocado processing robot 'Autocado' seen at burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N), opens new tab. Serve has an agreement with Uber Eats to deploy 2,000 robots by the end of this year. In November, the company saw a 97% year-on-year increase in daily active robots for the September-ended quarter.
