New automation trend to address U.S. restaurant labor shortage

Miso Robotics is poised to automate Quick Service Restaurants' kitchens and save the QSR industry from the challenges of labor resources.

* (QSR, also known as Fast-food Restaurants)

U.S. restaurants have always been an industry marked by high employee turnover and tricky recruiting issues, and the new covid pandemic has affected the entire U.S. labor market, making the post-epidemic restaurant industry's workforce issues even more critical. (Related Reading: Post-Epidemic: Restaurant Labor Shortage to Continue)

According to statistics, job openings in the U.S. restaurant industry have increased by nearly 70% from two years ago, and many former restaurant workers have switched jobs and switched to logistics posts and warehouse storage positions, with 300% growth in that category. So, despite the tough employment situation after the epidemic, QSR is instead understaffed and the workforce problem is more prominent.

Miso Robotics, a California-based startup focused on restaurant robots, developed its first product, Flippy, a robotic arm product for frying burgers, in 2015; today, Flippy is equipped with a range of artificial intelligence-driven devices that not only fry burgers perfectly but also fully automate frying station cooking, with the latest release of the machine chef having successfully produced more than 175,000 pounds of fried food, and more than 10,000 burgers.

Flippy had good results in Beta testing at fast food burger chain White Castle in the U.S. A new pilot program was launched this year with the installation of Flippy in 10 restaurants. Miso Robotics has also formed a partnership with Inspire Brands (including Buffalo Wild Wings) to jointly test a new product called Flippy Wings (the only robotic chicken wing frying solution designed for large restaurants).

Now, Miso Robotics is in the process of raising Series D funding and has been featured in Wall Street Journal, TechSpot and other media outlets for Miso Robotics and its new invention.

Of the top 25 QSR restaurant brands in the country, 10 have already undertaken programs related to robot chefs.

Looking ahead is essential, and with people facing the threat of virus today, perhaps fully automated restaurants are more in line with people's needs. We can look to a future where kitchen work such as cooking, frying, grilling, flipping, and even beverage packaging, take-out packaging, delivery, and some other tasks are all done by robots, and in the near future we may also see fully automated services in hotels, scenic spots, hospitals, communities And so on. However, there are also views that compared to human waiters, robots lack emotional communication, and the communication between the waiter and the customer picture is an indispensable scenery of the store. What do you think about it?