How long will it be before you are served in a restaurant by a robot, or working alongside one, maybe not as far away as you might imagine.
Not so many years ago if someone had told you that your mobile phone would for many intents and purposes replace your desktop and/or laptop you might have looked at them quizzically more than once.
The advance of technology continues to change the way we all live and work, but advance notice of change is often overlooked. Most people claim to not like change so maybe closing eyes to it is the easiest option.
Today for many reading this the idea of robots serving tables at restaurants will seem ridiculous, but it is already a reality in in the US, Italy, Spain, China, Singapore, Korea and Germany.
The reality of robot waiters is fuelled by a global issue we know all too well in the UK, people and skills shortages. The reporting of these issues in China for example is more forthright than many others including the UK. A report published recently in the South China Morning Post states that young Chinese people simply don’t want to work in hospitality. Of those born after 2000, 24.5 per cent want careers related to literature and art, education and IT, hospitality is not on the list of career priorities.
China also despite having the highest population in the world has a diminishing workforce. The Chinese national bureau of statistics shows working-age population, people between 16 and 59 years’ old, has reduced by 40 million since 2012 to 897 million, accounting for 64 per cent of China’s roughly 1.4 billion people in 2018. Still enormous numbers but there are also enormous numbers of foodservice outlets in China and young Chinese people aren’t interested in working in them.
So, as a consequence numerous technology start-ups specialising in robotics and AI are flourishing in China.
One such company is Shenzhen Pudu Technology. A Shenzhen start-up just three years old for example, is among the many Chinese robotics companies offering catering robots to thousands of restaurant owners across China and now exporting to Singapore, Korea and Germany.
Pudu Technology’s robots enable kitchen staff to place meals with the robot, enter the table number, and the robot will deliver to the consumer. While an average human waiter can deliver 200 meals per day – the robots can manage 300 to 400.
Founder and CEO of Pudu Technology, Zhang Tao, told the South China Morning Post recently: “China’s food market is huge and delivering meals is a process with high demand and frequency. Nearly every restaurant owner [in China] says it’s hard to recruit people to [work as a waiter].”
Pudu Technology robots have a working lifespan of ten years and cost between US $5,650 and US $7,000. That’s less than the average yearly salary of restaurant and hotel workers in China’s southern Guangdong province, which is roughly US $9,500, according to a report co-authored by the South China Market of Human Resources.
Other Chinese robotic companies are also entering the market. SIASUN Robot & Automation Co, a hi-tech listed enterprise belonging to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced their catering robots to China’s restaurants in 2017. Delivery robots developed by Shanghai-based Keenon Robotics Co., founded in 2010, have robots serving people in China and the US, Italy and Spain.
There are certainly many limitations the practicality of navigating some restaurant terrains being one. The market value estimations are many with £20-30bn by 2022 being a midpoint, that’s a lot of motivation. Technology in foodservice market leaders like McDonald’s are doubtless evaluating as we publish.
Robot Waiters, it’s happening now and coming to a restaurant near you soon
