Seattle-based startup for food automation, Picnic, said on Tuesday that its Picnic Pizza System is already taking pre-orders. The pizza robot-maker is made for commercial kitchens to cut costs and even labor.
Using the Picnic Pizza System, a person can produce up to 100 pieces of 12” customized pizzas every hour. The recipe may be modified to match the commercial kitchen or owner of the machine. And, fresh ingredients are released on the handmade dough.
After several trials in areas, like hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, and entertainment, the firm stated that it is now ready to deploy its first robot. Customers' existing orders will be fulfilled until the end of this year, while new orders will be sent the following year.
Customers will be charged from $3,500 to $5,000 per month to rent the pizza system under the robotics-as-a-service (RaaS). The tiered system is determined by factors such as the modular system's unique setups and output. Maintenance inspections and remote monitoring are included in the fees.
Clayton Wood, Picnic CEO, noted in a statement that to optimize the Picnic Pizza System, the team relentlessly works with strategic partners and clients over the last year. The company is pleased with the idea they have come up with.
He added that the positive feedback it has gotten from industry stakeholders and clients reinforces the demand for kitchen automation solutions such as the one they offer. They are also expectant to a great year coming.
According to Wood, the need is manifesting out particularly vividly during the coronavirus pandemic, so it has sparked a lot of attention in the pizza solution. Picnic has been marketing its service as a way to compensate for a persistent labor shortage in the foodservice industry.
Based on the report of the Wall Street Journal, there were 1.3 million employment vacancies in restaurants and hotels at the end of May. And, automating food preparation is one solution.
Pizza is a fairly first target for food-maker robots because its construction is very simple and uniform. Moreover, people consume many pizzas. Based on reports, Americans had 100 acres of pizza every day in 2015.
Lately, the startup has become popular, having secured a $16.3 million funding round in May. In July, the business raised another $4.2 million, bringing its total to $38 million.
The news was announced during the International Pizza Expo and Conference, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
