White Castle to Use Robots in 100 Stores

White Castle, the iconic U.S. fast food chain known for its slider-size hamburgers, is planning to deploy robotic fry stations at 100 of its stand-alone stores.

The chain is expanding its partnership with Miso Robotics, a startup developing autonomous kitchen assistants, to install Flippy 2 units that perform food preparation tasks such as frying and grilling. The units start at around $3,000 a month.

By taking over the work of an entire fry station, Flippy 2 “alleviates the pain points that come with back-of-house roles at quick-service restaurants” and allows staff to be redeployed across other parts of the business, Miso said.

Flippy 2 also contains an AutoBin system, for sorting lower-volume and specialty foods such as onion rings or chicken tenders. Each “bin” can hold as much as a full fry basket and is fully customizable.

The companies have been working together since September 2020, with the partnership thrusting Miso into the public eye. The startup would go on to raise $60 million and is aiming for an additional $40 million in its recently opened Series D round.

This article first appeared in IoT World Today’s sister publication AI Business.