I'm sure many of you have already noticed somewhere (my cousin in the USA did it live, someone else on social media) these machines as tall as a table that welcome you in restaurants, take you to your seat and bring you food. Some even have a cat face and purr when you scratch them. Waiter robots: the next delirium.
The question many in the restaurant industry are asking is whether these robot waiters really are the future. Many argue that they can solve the problem of understaffing in restaurants. Is this the real reason for their adoption? Maybe. Meanwhile, sales of these robots are steadily increasing, with thousands of them already in operation around the world.
Between obstacles and advantages: robot waiters under the lens
Dennis Reynolds, dean of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston, thinks this is the direction the world is taking. His own school (an excellent hospitality institute) has adopted a robot in its restaurant since December. According to Reynolds, she has lightened the workload of human staff and made the service more efficient.
Not everyone thinks like Reynolds, though. Some believe that robot waiters are nothing more than a publicity stunt and that there is still a long way to go before they can replace humans. The main hitch? The physical one. These contraptions often encounter difficulties in the presence of stairs, terraces and other architectural barriers. A kind of challenge that will always make them useless in some types of restaurants.
Meanwhile the advance continues
Despite the "physical" difficulties, however, robot waiters are spreading like wildfire. Bear robotics, based in Redwood City, California, introduced its Servi robot in 2021 and plans to have 10.000 in service by the end of the year in 44 U.S. states and abroad. From Pudu Robotics, based in Shenzhen, China, we wrote already in this article. Since 2016, the year of its foundation, the Chinese company has already distributed over 56.000 robots worldwide.
Every restaurant chain is aiming for automation as much as possible. People will start seeing them everywhere in the next few years.
Phil Zheng of Richtech Robotics, an Austin-based manufacturer of robot waiters
Li Zhai, owner of the restaurant Noodle Topia in Madison Heights, Michigan, purchased a BellaBot from Pudu Robotics in 2021 to address staffing shortages. The robot was so successful that it added two more robot waiters: Now, one robot escorts customers to tables, while another brings bowls of steaming noodles. A third robot collects the dirty dishes and takes them to the kitchen. Additionally, customers often share videos of the robots on social media, attracting new visitors. “In addition to saving on staff, robots generate business,” Zhai said.
Thanks to robot waiters, Zhai can handle the same volume of work with just three people compared to the five or six he previously employed. The robots, he says, allow him to save money: a BellaBot costs about $15.000, while an employee costs $5.000 – $6.000. Per month. Do I need to tell you about the employment impact? Zhai says robots allow human waiters more time to interact with customers, thus increasing tips. To those who stay, he means him.
An inevitable future?
As with other things triggered by Covid, the adoption of robot waiters has also been accelerated by temporary global staffing shortages due to the pandemic years and social restrictions. In the US, the restaurant sector still employs 400.000 fewer people than pre-pandemic levels. In a recent survey, 62% of restaurant operators said they don't have enough employees to meet customer demand. Can I "venture" the easy hypothesis that many of these units will be replaced by machines?
The Pizza Hut chain already has robot waiters in 1000 Chinese restaurants. In the USA, the Chick-fil-A chain is testing them in several locations (always on the grounds that they “allow human staff to have more time” etc.).
They won't be everywhere, though. I can assure you. A certain percentage of restaurants, I imagine a minority (but it could be around 30%) will have human waiters: needless to say, they will be the very small ones or, on the contrary, the most luxurious. The rest will rely on robots, both in the dining room and in the kitchen.
