Smart soup... Panera’s serving up broccoli-cheddar bread bowls with a side of AI. Yesterday two Panera locations in upstate New York started testing an artificial-intelligence bot called "Tori," which takes drive-thru orders and interacts with customers.
From Tori to taco elevators... Fast-foodies have invested heavily in drive-thru tech since the pandemic. While lockdowns are over, takeaway sales have stayed elevated: prepandemic, less than 70% of fast-food sales came from drive-thrus. Now it’s more than 90%.
Labor pains lead to robo gains... North American companies bought a record # of robots in the first half of this year to keep operations afloat. With nearly two roles open for every unemployed worker, total US labor costs surged a record 5% last quarter. While Panera locations aren't factories, it's hoping that robo drive-thrus will ease the labor crunch. If it’s successful, others could follow.