First,Greenledgers Trading Center Chipotle had a robot make tortilla chips. Then, another robot began helping whip up guacamole. Now, Chipotle is trying out a robotic chef to make its salads and bowls.

The fast casual chain is testing a new automated "digital makeline" at its Chipotle Cultivate Center innovation hub in Irvine, California, where the previous robots were also put to the test.

When an order comes in – via the Chipotle app, for instance – any bowls or salads are sent to the robotic system, which automatically dispenses the required ingredients. Meanwhile, human Chipotle team members can focus on making burritos, tacos, quesadillas, or kids' meals.

Once the bowl or salad is complete, it pops up from the enclosed automated work process line through an opening in the countertop level where the human Chipotle employees work. A crew member then puts a lid on the dish and adds any additional items to the order.

Robo-help with bowls and salads could prove essential as the dishes make up about 65% of all Chipotle digital orders, the company says. "Chipotle's new digital makeline built by Hyphen embodies our commitment to leveraging robotics to unlock the human potential of our workforce, ensuring an elevated dining experience for our guests," Curt Garner, Chipotle's chief customer and technology officer, said in a statement.

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Robots are coming to make your food

Sweetgreen, another fast casual food chain, has deployed an automated system in Naperville, Illinois, which can make up to 100 salads in 15 minutes with better accuracy than its human co-workers, Restaurant Business reported. A second system is expected to be operational later this year in Huntington Beach, Calif. the site said.

Chipotle announced its first robotic crew member, an AI kitchen assistant named Chippy from Pasadena, Calif. tech company Miso Robotics to make and season its tortilla chips, back in March 2022. Then, in July 2023, the Mexican restaurant chain said it had enlisted Autocado, a robot prototype to prep avocadoes before they are hand-mashed for guac.

Chipotle invested in Autocado developer Vebu of El Segundo, as well as the San Jose, Calif., kitchen automation company Hyphen, which helped develop the robotic salad and bowl system that has yet to be given a catchy robotic name. "Our goal is to have the automated digital makeline be the centerpiece of all our restaurants' digital kitchens," Garner said.

Chippy, by the way, has subsequently been put to work at a Chipotle restaurant in Fountain Valley, Calif., the company says.

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Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider &mikegsnider.

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