Chippy ’n’ guac... Visit any Chipotle today and there's a 100% chance your tortilla chips will be fried and seasoned with salt and lime by Chipotle workers. But starting next month the carne asada icon will add a robot to its chip-making operation.
Hint of lime... lots of crunch. Fast-food joints around the US are still dealing with a crippling labor shortage. In May the restaurant industry still had 750K fewer jobs filled than prepandemic. Now the hard-hit sector is bringing in bots to fill the gap:
It’s a fast-casual conundrum… for America’s nearly 200K fast-food spots and their ~5M employees. A 2021 report found that half of restaurant operators planned to use automation tech in the next few years. Companies may have to spend big in the short term, but could be rewarded with more efficient operations and fatter profit margins longer term. On the flip side, it could mean millions of jobs lost to bots. Plus: a third of customers don’t want to see a robot prep their food, one report said.