Restaurant Assistant Robots Take on Middle Eastern Market

Restaurant robotics and automation group Miso Robotics is partnering with Americana Restaurants, in a collaboration that marks the first global rollout of its restaurant robotic systems. 

Under the partnership, Americana Restaurants will work to bring Miso Robotics’ pipeline of restaurant assistant bots to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, starting with a pilot test of Flippy 2 at Americana Restaurants’ flagship Wimpy burger chain location in the Dubai Mall. 

If successful, further expansion of this frying robot is anticipated across more of Americana Restaurants’ 2,000 sites in the coming months. 

The MENA-focused company incorporates brands including TGI Fridays, KFC, Pizza Hut and Hardee’s at its locations in more than 20 countries, and brand director Melvin Michael says it is the “first quick-service restaurant operator in the MENA region to introduce the use of robotics in its kitchens.”

“In the past year, we’ve announced partnerships with some of the largest brands in the US, and that momentum has led to us being pulled internationally to introduce our technology on a global scale,” said Mike Bell, Miso Robotics CEO. “The time is now to take Flippy global, and we have a great partner to do it with.” 

The Flippy 2 bot uses AI-vision to identify and manage food for frying, also featuring an automatic dispenser to make it an even more independent frying assistant. With ongoing labor shortages and demand for increased productivity, the use of robots such as Flippy 2 is hoped to improve efficiency, reduce workload and streamline operations. Over the past year, Miso Robotics has collaborated with fast-food chains including White Castle, Chipotle and Jack in the Box to bring its robotic assistants to restaurants around the U.S.