Need to Know

San Francisco – Food tech start-up Creator has unveiled the first restaurant that uses robotics to autonomously prepare burgers.

Unlike Flippy, the robotic arm that flips burgers, Creator can make a burger from start to finish. Once customers have placed their order via a tablet, a compressed air tube pushes a freshly-made bun onto the conveyor belt where the rest of the ingredients can be added. It is cut in half by a vibrating knife before being toasted and buttered. Additional add-ons such as measured sauces and spices, pickles, tomatoes, onions and cheese are automatically placed onto the bun depending on the order. Finally, the machine adds the burger, which is produced from strands of meat that are hung vertically and are lightly pressed together to form a patty.

Despite using quality ingredients, each burger is aimed at the fast casual market, with a cost of £4.55 ($6, €5.15). ‘This is the kind of burger you would get for $12 to $18 at an upscale restaurant, and it’s $6,’ says Alex Vardakostas, co-founder and CEO at Creator. The restaurant is able to offer the meal at a reasonable cost due to its savings on labour.

Creator is another example of how robots are transforming the hospitality sector.

US – Drinks start-up VYBES is introducing a new flavour to its CBD-infused beverage collection. Inspired by youth and nostalgia, Strawberry Lavender combines the fresh taste of hand-picked strawberries with a subtle pairing of Lavender floral notes.

The brand, which launched in December 2017, taps into the contemporary cannabis market with a range of drinks products that embrace the mind and body healing powers of CBD. The drinks are branded under a minimal aesthetic, dismissing cliché pot leaf motifs and instead creating credibility and desire for the products by using a clearly labelled glass bottle.

With cannabidiol now available in a variety of forms, drinks brands are adopting a more sophisticated and nuanced aesthetic to CBD product packaging to reflect its shift into mainstream.

In an era of on-demand culture, consumers have high expectations for delivery, particularly when purchasing gifts. A new report by the delivery service, Drop Off revealed that luxury shoppers are increasingly abandoning slow delivery estimates in favour of same-day delivery.

‘Consumers who plan to spend more than $100 per gift are 26% more likely to purchase from retailers that offer same-day delivery’, says Sean Spector, CEO of Dropoff. In addition, two-thirds of consumers say they have avoided a purchase due to slow delivery methods, which was up 16% from 2017.