Panera Bread tests automated coffee brewing using Miso Robotics

Panera Bread trials a new automated coffee brewing system from Miso Robotics as it doubles as a beverage subscription program.

It’s part of a broader shift across the restaurant industry toward automation as many restaurants struggle to find workers and labor costs soar. for example, McDonald’s It automates taking orders from the car, while California Pizza Kitchen is testing a robot to assist bus tables.

The trend of automation has made Miso Robotics popular with both restaurant chains and investors. Last month , Chipotle Mexican Grill announce It’s testing a miso-made robot that makes tortilla chips. Other fast food partners of the startup include White Castle and owner of Arby’s Inspire Brands.

Since its founding in 2016, Miso has funded more than $50 million from restaurant chains like CaliBurger, venture capital firms, and common investors, according to the company. It’s in the middle of its Series E round, which values ​​the startup at $500 million.

“We’ve seen a growing tidal wave of demand,” Miso Robotics CEO Mike Bell said in an interview. According to Bell, the biggest problem facing the restaurant industry is the employment gap, which is caused by restaurants that need more available workers. “It will not disappear,” he said.

Miso’s latest launch is the CookRight Coffee system, which uses artificial intelligence to monitor coffee volume and temperature. It also provides predictive analytics that can tell a restaurant more about what type of coffee their customers enjoy and when. Bell said Miso charges “a few hundred dollars” a month for its CookRight technology, while start-up Flippy the Robot is returning operators several thousand dollars in monthly fees.

Panera’s goal for the system is to give employees more time to dedicate to other tasks, such as helping customers, and making sure coffee drinkers enjoy every sip of their beverage, especially if they subscribe to the Unlimited Sip Club.

“We have never considered this a cost savings or a defense against the labor market at all,” said George Hanson, chief digital officer at Panera.

Panera launches coffee and tea subscription program More than two years ago after fixing the coffee selection. For $8.99 per month, customers can drink an unlimited amount of coffee and tea. The low monthly cost of the program gives Panera an easy way to attract customers and convince them to change their breakfast habits.

At the moment, only two Panera sites are testing the CookRight Coffee system. Hanson said the series will make a decision in the coming weeks about how quickly and how much to expand. Panera owns nearly half of its coffee shops in the United States, while franchisees operate the remaining 1,200 locations.

Bell said Miso expects to have CookRight technology installed in thousands of its partner restaurants by the end of the year, as well as hundreds of Flippy the Robots.

When it comes to the rest of the kitchen, Hanson said Panera will continue to look for more opportunities to automate tasks for its employees if it makes sense, but he doesn’t envision that its restaurants will be entirely run by robots in the future. However, for Bell, it is a matter of when, not whether, restaurants become automated.

“Out of opportunism, if we saw things like this that would help our partners, we would look at them,” Hanson said. “I see the industry is very curious about this, but maybe in some areas I’ve seen that curiosity comes from labor cost, which is not our filter.”

The Soup and Sandwich chain is privately owned by the Einstein Brothers. The parent company, JAB Holding, does not disclose how many Unlimited Sip Club subscribers it has. However, Panera announced in November It will go public again through an initial public offering After securing investments from restaurateur Danny Meyer and his acquisition firm.

Other companies have recently postponed IPOs due to inflation concerns and market volatility. A Panera representative declined to comment on whether the chain had revised its plans.