Food trucks have delivered fresh food to work sites, workers, and offices
for 100 years or so. However, like
everything else technology has evolved and one company is now using advacned
robotics to drive incremental success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Ono
Food Company, is launching later this month the first of a fleet of mobile
food trucks powered by advanced robotics that’s right advance robotics in a
food truck.
Ono
Blends, is billing its smoothie shop on wheels, as the first mobile
restaurant in the world that uses cutting edge technology and advanced robotics
to power everything from ordering to food production. The company plans to launch
Ono Blends in late October at a popular Venice, Calif. food truck lot, where it
will share space with Roy Choi’s pioneering food truck, Kogi BBQ.
Regular readers of this blog know that “differentiation
does not mean different it means familiar but with a twist” well Ono Blends Co-founder and CEO Stephen Klein stated
“There’s no one else doing this,”
Klein, worked at grocery delivery company
Instacart and robotic coffee bar Café X in San Francisco, clearly garnering the
insights, for his innovative, incremental food platform, Ono Foods that
launched in July 2018 with his business partner Danny Fukuba. Fukuba previously
led robotic assembly for SpaceX and worked at Zume Pizza, which uses robot
pizza cooks. Johnson says this guys know food, technology and portability all
hallmarks of the grocerant niche.
Ono Foods, focus is on state-of-the art
food trucks that move around and feed people in so-called food deserts. “We
believe the future of robotics is modular. It can be placed in different
locations,” Klein said.
Garnering $2 million in capital raised
from investors, the team spent the past several months developing a menu of
healthy but affordable custom blended smoothies. Signature and customizable
shakes are made by an assembly line of machines outfitted in a 56-square-foot
space inside a 23-foot long Mercedes Sprinter.
Interactive and participatory the team built a viewing window is built at eye-level so customers can watch their
smoothie being prepared. Klein stated “Ono’s robotics system resembles the
automation at fast-casual bowl concept Spyce in Boston,
which made national headlines when it opened in May. Famed chef Daniel Boulud is an investor.”
Let’s talk making fast food fast and
fresh, Ono robots can crank out a 20-ounce avocado & matcha smoothie in
about 60 seconds. The cost: $5.95. Klein said the price is a bargain when
compared to brick and mortar shops in the Los Angeles area.
Consider that Moon Juice, which has three
shops in boujee Los Angeles enclaves, sells its wellness-centric shakes for $12
to $14. Klein continued “Fast-food options
usually fall into two buckets: fast, healthy, and unaffordable, or fast,
unhealthy, and affordable and nothing in between,”. “Combining our backgrounds in
tech, automation, and culinary fine dining, we knew we could fill this void to
give more people access to healthy, high-quality food.”
While technology is crucial to the
business model, Klein said food quality is paramount. “The quality of the food
is still the most important thing. Automation is the means to the end,” he
said. Every drink is “designed to keep people energized and rejuvenated
throughout the day,” the company said.
Technology is important for all food
retailers according to Johnson. Ono
Blends said advanced robotics improves order accuracy, minimizes food waste,
reduces water usage, and improves speed of service. Food safety is also
enhanced with self-cleaning technology.
Is you brand getting faster, fresher, or closer
to you customers? Are you focusing on relevant customer touchpoints that are
both interactive and participatory?
Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or
for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant
Guru®. Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us of Tacoma, WA has been the
global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869
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