CASE STUDY FOOD SERVICE
AUTOMATIC CHOICE
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The disruption of COVID and the
a ermath of Brexit has led to a
recruitment and retention crisis within
the hospitality and foodservice sector.
Figures from consultancy CGA suggest that
that one in six (16 per cent) hospitality
jobs now remain vacant. For those in
contract catering there are the additional
challenges of fulfilling the food service
needs of a hybrid workforce, where
regular demand patterns are no longer
guaranteed. This, in turn makes it more
di icult to reduce food waste.
Given these challenges, the news last
autumn of a revolutionary new foodservice
ož ering at Ocado’s headquarters which
aims to address these issues caused quite
a stir in the FM sector. Semblr, the world’s
leading foodservice robot has been installed
to serve fresh, personalised lunches to the
4,000 employees at Ocado’s head ož ice. It’s
the result of a partnership between facilities
management services company Atalian
Servest and Karakuri, a world-leading food
robotics start up.
Karakuri’s CEO and Co-Founder Barney
Wragg, a leading Technologist and Digital
Strategist began looking into foodservice
automation in 2017, a¢ er restaurant owning
friends asked him for advice.
He recalls: “I was shocked at how labour
and people intensive running a restaurant
or foodservice operation was, and being
an engineer with a technical background
I was surprised how little data there was
to help run those businesses. I wondered
if we could solve some of the pressure
points in information on food kitchens
and preparation by applying the same sort
of automation used in other industries.
When you start to think about electronics
manufacturing or automotive they’ve gone
from the very basic Henry Ford production
line to automated systems.
“In 2018 we started to research the art of
the possible. With the help of the Founders
Factory investment incubator we looked at
diž erent tasks within the hospitality sector,
for instance, those operating central London
‘grab and go’ type stores that service a
growing trend for healthier ož erings. That
set us ož on looking at how we might create
24 FEBRUARY 2022
machines to be installed in their place of
work as a demonstrator.”
DEPLOYMENT OF SEMBLR
The logical place for deployment was
Ocado’s own head ož ice staž restaurant,
run by Angel Hill Food Co, the specialist
corporate catering division of Atalian
Servest. The aim was to give the customer an
unparalleled choice in what goes into their
meals. With 2,700 diž erent combinations
of the dishes on ož er, staž could specify
down to the gram what hot and cold items,
proteins, sauces and fresh toppings they
wanted, something that is simply not
possible in traditional restaurants and
a business that would handle, serve and
manipulate food from the kitchen.”
Ocado, which is already involved in all
aspects of the food industry, from vertical
farming through to home delivery and
grocery, expressed an interest in investing
in the business. In 2019 they led a seed
investment round and as part of their
investment were keen to have a prototype
system installed.
Says Wragg: “Ocado see a use for
automation in a multitude of places, from
grab and go through to FM and corporate
catering, and from ordering a fully finished
meal or the components of a meal further
down the line. They wanted one of our first