This is the future Chipotle customers want: one with equitable burrito bowl assembly and no need to see who got more guac or cheese. Chipotle is debuting new automated machines in some restaurant chains that will make portion sizes more consistent and prepare avocados for guacamole faster. The robots will be introduced in two California locations, and rollout will be expanded based on feedback.
The Mexican-style fast food chain will introduce “cobots,” or collaborative robots, to work alongside employees for the first time. The Augmented Makeline robot, created with food service platform Hyphen, can assemble burrito bowls and salads—which make up 65% of Chipotle digital orders—by dispersing the right amount of each ingredient, while employees prepare quesadillas and burritos. Chipotle will also pilot Autocado, a guacamole-prepping bot that can cut, core, peel, and scoop an avocado in 26 seconds.
