Robotics

Chipotle testing avocado-processing cobot

Provided by Chipotle

July 12, 2023

Chips are no longer the only food item being handled by robots at Chipotle Mexican Grill.

In hopes of reducing its guacamole prep time by 50%, the chain, which previously debuted a chip-making robot — Chippy — is testing Autocado, an avocado-processing cobotic prototype that cuts, cores and peels avocados before they are hand mashed to create guacamole. (The machine is technically a "cobotic process" since it requires human interaction, whereas robots perform their duties solo.)

"We are committed to exploring collaborative robotics to drive efficiencies and ease pain points for our employees," Curt Garner, chief customer and technology officer, said in a company press release. "The intensive labor of cutting, coring, and scooping avocados could be relieved with Autocado, but we still maintain the essential culinary experience of hand mashing and hand preparing the guacamole to our exacting standards."

How it works

Vebu, an automation, robotics and intelligence company, developed Autocado by working with certified training managers from Chipotle's restaurants to analyze preparation processes and identify tasks that were time-consuming or less favorable among crew members. Chipotle, for example, has individuals dedicated to cutting, coring and scooping avocados. It takes nearly 50 minutes to make one batch of guacamole. The cobotic process works as follows:

A team member loads Autocado with a full case of ripe avocados and selects the size setting. Autocado can hold up to 25 pounds.
One at a time, avocados are vertically oriented, then transferred to the processing device.
The avocados are sliced in half. Their cores and skin are automatically removed, and the waste is discarded.
The fruit is safely collected in a stainless-steel bowl at the bottom of the device.
A team member removes the bowl of avocado fruit and moves it to the counter where they add additional ingredients and hand mash the avocados to make guacamole.

Autocado's potential

In restaurants across the U.S., Canada, and Europe this year, Chipotle is expected to use about 4.5 million cases of avocados, equivalent to over 100 million pounds of fruit. In support of the chain's sustainability initiatives and waste reduction efforts, Autocado aims to increase avocado fruit yield through precision processing, which could lead to millions of dollars in annual food cost savings if the cobot is successfully developed and deployed widely, according to Buck Jordan, CEO of Vebu.

"Our purpose as a robotic company is to leverage automation technology to give workers more flexibility in their day-to-day work," he said in the release. "Autocado has the potential to work alongside Chipotle crew members to create the same, delicious guacamole that Chipotle fans love but more efficiently than ever before."

Integration of AI and machine learning

Vebu is developing an artificial intelligence and machine-learning stack to be connected to all its robotic solutions, where applicable. The goal is for future iterations of Autocado to use machine learning and sensor fusion to evaluate the quality of the avocados and quantify waste reduction as well as the efficiency of the cutting, coring and peeling processes.

Cultivate Next

Chipotle is investing in Vebu as part ofCultivate Next, its $50 million venture fund that intends to make early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further its mission to Cultivate a Better World and help accelerate its aggressive growth plan

Through Cultivate Next, Chipotle has previously invested in Hyphen, a foodservice platform designed to help restaurant owners, operators and budding chefs move their business forward by automating kitchen operations. Hyphen's first product, The Makeline, is being tested as a system that uses advanced software and robotics to automate meal production for all digital orders under the counter while allowing staff to assemble in-house orders from the top of the counter.

Chipotle has over 3,200 restaurants.