You know robots are becoming popular as you see them around more and more. The startup Blendid debuted this week with its fourth location in a shopping mall in the US. The kiosk, open seven days a week, allows customers to place contactless orders for a 350ml (12oz) fresh smoothie. It is prepared by an autonomous robot to order, in three minutes, directly on site.
How Blendid works
"Consumers use their mobile phone to order by scanning a QR code at the kiosk or via the Blendid app," he says. Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder of Blendid. “They browse our fruit and vegetable smoothie menu. Once the drink is chosen, they personalize it according to their personal taste and health preferences, changing the amount of each ingredient as desired. Then they place the order and the Blendid robot gets to work making their drink. When the drink is ready, they receive a message with instructions for contactless withdrawal of the drink. The robot serves them the drink when they confirm the withdrawal. "
A robot capable of making a delicious smoothie would be a novelty at any time, but the fact that it's opening now makes it even more remarkable. 2020, as Jain acknowledged, was an incredibly difficult year for everyone. If you operate in the service sector, things are particularly difficult, with margins already falling due to less foot traffic and lower consumer spending. The fact that Blendid is opening its fourth store in less than two years is impressive. And it tells us so much about the way robots are becoming a growing part of the service sector.
The pandemic as a "robotic" factor
COVID-19 is a pandemic that appears to be tailored for robots, Jain says. Contactless food preparation is now a necessity, and it's something robots inherently offer. Blendid has seen a huge increase in demand since the start of COVID-19, and we are grateful to be able to help.
Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder of Blendid
This is far from the only robot-assisted innovation I've talked about recently. Robot assistants in the house (and hanging from the ceiling), sanitizing robots, robots that do the firefighters, dealing robots of deliveries, even robot bartender they continue to arrive in abundance on the market, "symptom" and consequence of this transformation.
