OPINION
Tech adoption and the future role of AI
How has 2020 accelerated tech adoption and the potential future role of AI in the kitchen as well as drone delivery, asks Brody Sweeney (pictured), founder of Camile Thai Kitchen (www.camile.co.uk). A YEAR OF CHALLENGES 2020 has presented many massive challenges for our whole sector. At Camile Thai Kitchen we have found that one silver lining has been the accelerated focus and adoption of new technologies. The companies that win at technology are the ones that learn to successfully combine the right combination of solutions that optimise operations but also the customer experience. For us, a combination of kitchen robotics, cloud kitchens and drones is a winning formula that makes the most sense in terms of being able to adapt to future customer demand and trends. Other exciting technologies include artificial intelligence, smart data, blockchain and precision farming which are all now a lot closer than we may realise. Of course, the idea of automation in the restaurant space wasn’t new pre-Covid. Smaller concepts to date, have leaned heavily into robotic technology, while giants have also dabbled in AI and machine learning. Virtual kitchens were also a rising trend last year. 2020 however brought new challenges related to automation as well as shifting millennial preferences, driving focus and investment particularly in the area of cloud kitchens. Prior to Covid, automation adoption was driven by labour gaps in a thenhistorically low unemployment environment. Although that environment has quickly changed, rising labour costs have not and gaps remain for weary, cash-strapped operators. 34
A REPLACEMENT? Of course, the big question on everyone’s lips is whether or not automation will ultimately replace human labour - after all, fast food restaurants are major employers worldwide. Many years of discussion have led however to the consensus that humans can never be replaced, rather that labour will shift to other needs around the restaurant, or even bring about the creation of new roles. If you think of any sector since the industrial revolution, automation only ever changes the labour environment, it doesn’t mean less jobs - just increased productivity and the creation of new roles. From the restaurant owner’s point of view, another important consideration is the value that automation and robotics could yield in the context of future lockdowns, where employees are forced to stay home. Leading in this new decade means working to redefine the intersection between people and technology. In a food operator’s kitchen, it’s all about economy of motion on the line - speed is everything - whether that’s chopping an onion or flicking a sauté pan, chefs will always try to make sure that every second counts. Part of this strategy has to do with space, since a commercial kitchen can be sparing with elbow room.
At Camile Thai Kitchen, we are looking to add robotics to our production line - specifically our wok cookers. If you think of the process of cooking on a wok, it is very repetitive and replicable mechanically. We plan on replacing our manual wok cookers with a semi-automatic version. This consists
December 2020
