Author: Heidi Orpilla

Star Micronics and Craver to Provide Custom Mobile Solutions for Restaurants

Craver, along with Star Micronics CloudPRNT technology equips restaurants with easy, integrated online ordering from a custom mobile app

Somerset, NJ – July 10, 2019 – Star Micronics, a leading manufacturer of mobile, point of sale (POS), and customer engagement technologies, is proud to announce that Craver will be supporting Star’s new mC-Print3 with CloudPRNT technology. Craver, along with Star’s mC-Print3 with CloudPRNT will enable restaurants to easily accept and print mobile orders through iOS or Android devices.

Craver provides customized apps on a monthly subscription basis for restaurants. They create custom apps to fit the needs of their customers’ business with POS system and payment integration. The app also includes an integrated loyalty and rewards program that makes it easy for customers to collect and redeem rewards. Craver helps restaurants increase profits by not only enabling mobile ordering, but by also sending customers push notifications to notify them of customized deals and promotions, encouraging them to place more orders.

Star Micronics new mC-Print3 is sleek, compact, and connected with CloudPRNT support and Hub functionality to power up to 3 peripherals using USB connectivity. The CloudPRNT technology enables users to print orders to Star printers directly through a cloud service. CloudPRNT will work with Craver to store and create print jobs, and communicate status with the mC-Print3. This eliminates the need for an extra tablet in the restaurant to send an online order to the printer.

“Star Micronics CloudPRNT technology enables Craver customers to receive their mobile and web orders directly on their Star printers without any additional hardware, increasing the restaurants efficiency,” said Amin Yazdani, CEO of Craver Solutions Inc. “Together, Star Micronics and Craver make the mobile-order processing easy for restaurants.”

July 10, 2019
Star Micronics Reveals the New mUnite mPOS Solution Stands

Take back your counter space with the sleek mUnite Stands and mCollection devices from Star

Somerset, NJ – July 9, 2019 – Star Micronics, a leading global manufacturer of mobile, point of sale (POS), and customer engagement technologies, is pleased to announce the addition of the mUnite solution stand series to its mCollection lineup. The mUnite stands are designed to deliver a space-saving cable management solution with a clean aesthetic, bundling all point of sale devices into one visually cohesive solution.

The mUnite stands offer retailers, restaurateurs, and hospitality providers a way to optimize counter space, while modernizing the aesthetic of the point of sale. The definition of function and style, mUnite POS solution stands are built to accompany the mCollection line of mPOS printers, cash drawers, scales, and peripherals. With three models available, mUnite 3 for the mC-Print3, mUnite POP for the mPOP, and the mUnite POS for the TSP143III/TSP654II, business owners can choose which stand best suits their new or existing point of sale hardware.

Featuring a cable-free construction, the stands are cleverly designed to hide all of the cables that keep devices connected and route power supplies under the counter, increasing available counter space and decreasing clutter. Star’s new stands allow users to merge individual peripherals into one frame in a quick, easy, and clean setup.

Constructed from durable steel, the mUnite stands are compatible with any tablet enclosure featuring a 75- or 100-millimeter VESA mount, and are available in black or white. Customers may use their own tablet enclosure or purchase an optional enclosure from Star Micronics. A range of the most common tablet enclosures will be offered by Star Micronics, including enclosures for various generations of iPad, Samsung Tab, Microsoft Surface Go, and Microsoft Surface Pro. Please contact the Star Micronics sales team for more information.

Two additional accessories can be purchased separately, in a black or white finish that matches the mUnite stand. The first is a customer-facing VESA mount (75-millimeter or 100-millimeter) that accommodates a tablet that can be used in addition to the standard point of sale tablet. The second accessory is a blank customer-facing branding plate, which can display a brand logo at the point of sale.

“We are providing a flexible solution stand that can accommodate any tablet and is seamless in both form and function,” said Michael Hanson, the Executive Vice President at Star Micronics. “The mUnite POS solution stands provide the versatile, modern, and practical cable management that the industry needs.”

July 9, 2019
3 Ways Restaurant Kiosks Can Prepare You for the Future
This is the third and final part of “The Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks,” a three-part blog series about the many ways self-service kiosk technology is improving businesses, communities, the customer experience, and more.

When it comes to operating a restaurant, it’s not just a matter of surviving today, you need to thrive well into the future. It’s certainly an interesting time for the hospitality industry as a whole: We’re in the beginning stages of a restaurant technology boom which has been flagged with the phrase, “evolve or die.” Although that term may sound scary, there’s an easy way to prepare your restaurant for the future: with self-service kiosks!

Here’s Why You Should Leverage Kiosks for Self-Ordering in Hospitality.

Read on to discover how kiosk technology can help restaurants ride the new wave of hospitality and create a fast-track to success.

Out with the Old, in with the New

As a restaurant, a key audience to keep your focus on is millennials. With an approximate headcount of 80 million in the U.S. alone, millennials (or those born between the years 1981 and 1996) are officially the largest living generation and have surpassed baby boomers in buying power. Simply put, millennials are shaping today’s and tomorrow’s restaurants.

Still not sold on adapting your business model to accommodate these folks? Think again: According to Bernstein researchers, millennials, more than any other generation, are more likely to value eating out, and they are more likely to gather at eateries than bars.

It’s a perfect opportunity for restaurants: the largest living generation loves to eat out more than any other age group. But what do millennials value, and how is the restaurant experience shifting as new trends emerge and baby boomer trends recede? According to Convince & Convert and Salesforce, here are some top emerging trends among the younger generations:
- When choosing a restaurant, Gen Z and Millennials are 99% more likely to rely on social media and online reviews than Gen X and Baby Boomers
- 33% of Generation Z say ads cause them to usually (or always) try new things, compared with 21% of Americans overall
- Millennials value smart self-service solutions
When it comes to kiosks, millennials play a very important role. Because they grew up with device access at all times – from ‘90s PCs to today’s smart devices – millennials are more comfortable with non-verbal communication than previous generations and value the opportunity to solve issues on their own. Furthermore, 91% of millennials polled in a study by Retale said they have used a self-service kiosk, and 20% claim they don’t like interacting with cashiers at checkout.

The largest generation with the most buying power values convenience and technology. What better way to marry the two than by adopting self-service kiosks?

Free Self-Service Kiosk Resources

The future of many industries lies with self-service solutions. That’s why Star Micronics is offering free online ordering resources for resellers and software developers who are helping customers future-proof their businesses with self-service solutions.

Visit Self-Service Toolbox

Drive Digital Adoption – for ALL Customers

We just spoke a lot about the millennial generation – but kiosk technology isn’t only for them. In fact, kiosks drive digital adoption (or, the ability to take advantage of all that technology has to offer) for a variety of customers.

From retirees to those who aren’t native English speakers, thanks to their ease of communication and ability to serve the underserved, kiosks are a beneficial trend for everyone. It’s never been easier to improve the restaurant experience across demographics!

Streamline the Digital Experience

As we discussed above, the digital transformation that’s unfolding before our eyes is causing previously unrelated realms to merge. Dining out isn’t simply driving to a restaurant anymore: it’s a multi-faceted digital decision. Social media, web-based reviews, online ordering applications and websites, and more all contribute to the question, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

Kiosks, like Flash Order’s, can play an important part in this digital shift. By matching your in-restaurant kiosk’s user experience to your mobile website and/or application, you cultivate customer familiarity and create a seamlessly intuitive, convenient, and well-branded dynamic.

Kiosks: The Gateway to the Future

In short, self-service kiosks enable restaurants to stay current with trends as older ways of business fade away, and their ease-of-use encourages everyone to utilize technology, not just millennials and early adopters. There’s simply no reason to not implement technology that benefits businesses and customers alike.

Looking to implement a self-service solution? Download our free Guide to Selecting the Right Kiosk Printer.

Download Brochure
July 2, 2019
How to Use Your Receipt Printer for Fourth of July Marketing

Independence Day is almost here, and America is ready to celebrate. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, 87% (or 216 million) people planned on observing the holiday last year. Before you go visit that firework show, be sure to let your customers know about your holiday specials by doing some Fourth of July marketing using your receipt printer!

If you own a Star Micronics printer^*, it’s never been easier to promote your holiday specials. With Star’s PromoPRNT tool, you can create custom promotions from templates that print on the bottom of your receipts – for free.^* Even better yet, with the cloud-based tool you can manage the promotions from anywhere!

Learn more in our quick how-to video:

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry! We’ve created three ready-to-use Fourth of July templates in the PromoPRNT Promotion Builder. Check them out:

BBQ Event

New Product Release

Instagram Contest

Ready to get started with your Fourth of July marketing? Click here to learn more about/register for PromoPRNT!

^{*Windows PC users can use their existing thermal printer, others may need to update printer model. Call 1 (800) 782-7636 extension 2 for details or visit www.promoprnt.com for more details.}

June 24, 2019
How Kiosks Benefit the Community

This is the second part of “The Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks,” a three-part blog series about the many ways self-service kiosk technology is improving businesses, communities, the customer experience, and more.

Sometimes when you think about technology, it’s easy to assume the latest advancements are reserved for a select, more fortunate portion of the community. After all, who can afford each new updated smartphone? And if we’re being honest, the learning curve of keeping up with new technology can be daunting.

However, technology is improving quality of life for all people, not just the wealthy and early adopters. Take, for example, kiosks. Thanks to self-service touchscreen technology, kiosks are able to provide a truly unifying experience, and don’t discriminate user experience based on any criteria.

The benefits of kiosks extend well beyond increased profits and helping businesses compete in the modern world. From making communication easier to enabling payments of all types, let’s explore how kiosks are benefiting all corners of the community.

Free Self-Service Kiosk Resources

The future of many industries lies with self-service solutions. That’s why Star Micronics is offering free online ordering resources for resellers and software developers who are helping customers future-proof their businesses with self-service solutions.

Visit Self-Service Toolbox

Kiosks Make Communication Easier

A huge group of people that benefits from kiosks is those who do not speak the native language of the area they are in.

Thanks to their dynamic experience, kiosks allow users to customize their experience depending on their language (i.e. language selection). In the United States, ESL (English as a Second Language) customers can order confidently without the burden of having to try to communicate with front-of-house workers, and kiosks make it easier for global travelers to order meals, tickets, and more, as well.

The benefits of offering kiosk technology to ESL customers is huge: not only is there an instant transactional benefit, but in the long run kiosks can create a new level of equality and provide emotional benefits to all involved parties.

Kiosks Serve the Underserved and Less Fortunate

On top of their many other benefits, kiosks also do a great job at serving the underserved and accommodating the less fortunate. Kiosks can easily be placed in marginalized communities, helping to serve the underserved in an inclusive, go-at-your-own-pace way.

It’s important to note that implementing kiosk technology doesn’t mean businesses have to go cashless. In fact, a proper kiosk implementation will allow cash transactions at both the counter and the kiosk. Cash acceptance is important because while some businesses choose to go cashless, according to Wakefield Research, 83% of small business owners in the U.S. say they will never stop accepting cash. Why’s that? Doing so can leave out people who are unbanked or underbanked – and that’s a lot of folks: 6.5% of Americans are unbanked, and nearly 19% are underbanked.

And in case you didn’t know, cash is, in fact, still king (across the board): it makes up some 30% of all transactions, and a whopping 55% of transactions valued $10 and under.

How to Start Better Serving Your Customers (and Community)

Are you ready to reap all of the benefits that kiosks have to offer? Star can help! By partnering with industry-leading kiosk solution providers, we help spread the technology’s many benefits across various industries, from retailers to restaurants, and everything in between.

And kiosks aren’t just for large establishments. Star works with kiosk solution providers, like Flash Order, that are uniquely positioned to help small businesses adopt the latest kiosk technology … because when all businesses can adopt kiosks, all businesses can give back to their community.

Do you build kiosks? Curious about integrating with Star’s kiosk printing solutions? Download our free Guide to Selecting the Right Kiosk Printer.

Download Brochure

June 20, 2019
Dry Point Distillers Installs Nobly EPOS to Manage Bustling Tasting Room

Dry Point Distillers is a craft micro-distillery in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The company started as a hobby and evolved into a business that produces top-notch spirits and cocktails, served at a hickory bar in Dry Point’s small tasting room in Mesilla. The craft distiller produces spirits in tiny batches, all made by hand, incorporating local farm-to-table ingredients like honey mesquite pods, fresh red chile from the valley, and prickly pear fruits from local ditch banks.

Dry Point Distillers pays homage to its New Mexico roots, using locally sourced ingredients and naming its products and cocktails for the surrounding area, including Mesa Vodka, Monsoon Gin, and Dry Spell Bourbon Whiskey.

The Situation

The father/son duo of Stefan and Chris Schaefer, a former fire fighter for the U.S. Forest Service, began producing spirits with only a fuel alcohol distilling permit and five-gallon pot still. With the help and guidance of his cousins from a nearby bar and distillery, Chris began experimenting with fermentable products to refine the process that would eventually become his business.

Although Chris and Stefan had honed their craft-spirit process and perfected it, the duo was new to running a business. Dry Point Distillers opened in October 2018 and immediately became a hot spot—it’s normal to see every seat filled in the 15-person tasting room. The small distillery also supplies wholesale products to local liquor stores and a second location is under consideration.

The Schaefers quickly recognized that a cash register wasn’t going to give them the automation and functions they needed to process transactions, maintain accurate inventory counts, and track customers in the busy tasting room.

The Solution

Realizing they needed a point of sale system, Chris turned to the internet to find a company that could help them install a single terminal at the right price point. After researching several vendors, he found Nobly POS, a U.K.-based company with offices in the U.S., Uruguay, and Australia. The company focuses on point of sale solutions for small, independent businesses around the world, which made it the perfect fit for the Dry Point Distillery.

Nobly’s attractive, tablet-based solution includes the features the distillery was looking for, including CRM, inventory tracking, workforce management, onboarding, and support, minus the hefty price tag. After an online demo, the Schaefers felt confident enough to sign on the dotted line.

Dry Point Distillers’ new point of sale system includes Nobly EPOS, a cloud-based POS software solution designed for the hospitality industry, an Apple iPad, and a Heckler Windfall iPad Stand, a stylish but heavy steel enclosure that keeps the iPad secure. Nobly also supplied the Star Micronics TSP143III receipt printer.

The TSP143III series offers a simple and extremely reliable tether connection for iOS devices via USB connectivity, while simultaneously charging the device that it is connected to. The TSP143III uses the Apple Lightning cable for “plug and play” setup.

Nobly POS assisted the distillery owners with getting their database set up, entering inventory, and training the staff. The system was so simple, it took three hours for the owners to fully understand its features and only 30 minutes to train the staff.

The Result

After several weeks with their new system, Dry Point Distillers has benefited from newly streamlined operations, and labor and inventory management. The company’s staff is processing transactions faster and managing their inventory more effectively. Reviewing sales numbers and identifying the most popular shifts, drinks, and products is easy using the system’s reporting options. Back office tasks like payroll are faster with the system’s time clock and tip functions.

The Schaefers have been able to drastically reduce the amount of time spent counting bottles and merchandise, so they can focus on their spirits and the customers who stop by to enjoy a cocktail and taste the latest offerings.

Download Success Story

June 18, 2019
4 Ways Self-Service Kiosks Help Small Businesses Succeed

This is the first part of “The Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks,” a three-part blog series about the many ways self-service kiosk technology is improving businesses, communities, the customer experience, and more.

Operating a small business can be tough. In a world where online and big box retailers permeate the market, small businesses need to work even harder to differentiate themselves, stay profitable, and create a customer experience that has shoppers coming back for more.

Designated holidays like National Small Business Week and Small Business Saturday certainly help small businesses stand out, but how can business owners make a lasting impression on a daily basis? The answer lies at the customer’s fingertips: self-service kiosks!

Self-service kiosks are attractive, highly visible, and user-friendly. But on top of that, they can help small businesses boost profits, optimize efficiency, and more. Let’s take a dive into the many ways self-service kiosks help small businesses not just survive, but thrive.

1. Kiosks Make Money

Let’s be real: when it comes to staying afloat in the world of small business, money is key. Implementing a self-service kiosk (or two, or three) can cause small businesses to reap big rewards: when ordering through kiosks, consumers spend 30% more! One big reason for this is that it’s easier for customers to customize their orders using a kiosk, and it’s also an intuitive, private way for them to browse other products. Long story short, kiosks are proven to drive increased revenue per transaction which can make or break a small business.

2. Kiosks Boost Efficiency

Shoppers expect businesses to run like a well-oiled machine, and if they don’t, they are likely to choose a different place to spend their money next time. Kiosks can help you avoid this pitfall by boosting the efficiency of every order. By providing a flexible way to maximize throughput, kiosks shift the bottleneck from the front-of the house (i.e. how fast to get orders into the system) to the back of the house (i.e. how much food can be made). Hello, line-busting!

3. Kiosks Enhance Loyalty Program Onboarding

Simply put, customers love loyalty programs – and small businesses should, too. In fact, it’s estimated that loyalty program members spend 12-18% more per year than non-loyalty members. Small businesses can have their self-service kiosk ask customers at the time of purchase to sign up for a loyalty program, and may feel more comfortable providing personal information on a kiosk versus out loud to another person. Additionally, if the loyalty program lives in a mobile wallet application, customers may be able to seamlessly provide sign-up information by transferring it from their smart device to the kiosk.

And why not promote that loyalty program on the receipt that prints out of the kiosk? With Star Micronics PromoPRNT, small businesses can create custom promotions from templates that are delivered in the most valuable place: on the receipt, in the customer’s hand.

4. Kiosks Optimize Operations

On top of making money, kiosks also help you save it by positively impacting operational costs. It’s expensive to run a small business: in the restaurant world alone, labor costs can reach 30-40%. Self-service kiosks can help soften this expense by providing an easy way for business owners to efficiently manage headcount costs and reduce unnecessary operational costs.

In a Nutshell: Kiosks Increase Return on Investment

At the end of the day, return on investment (ROI) is the most important factor when it comes to self-service kiosks. Due to upside from increased revenue, throughput, and reduced costs, ROI on self-service kiosk implementation is unmatched. And the proof is in the numbers: when shopping for a kiosk solution, many providers are able to deliver examples from businesses similar to yours that show the dramatic ROI impact kiosks can make.

Free Self-Service Kiosk Resources

The future of many industries lies with self-service solutions. That’s why Star Micronics is offering free online ordering resources for resellers and software developers who are helping customers future-proof their businesses with self-service solutions.

Visit Self-Service Toolbox

How to Adopt Self-Service Kiosk Technology

Any way you slice it, self-service kiosks are huge: food and beverage revenue generated from kiosks alone is expected to top $310 million by 2021. But, of course, to be adopted by a small business, price and ease-of-implementation is critical.

Fortunately, inexpensive, easy-to-use kiosk solutions exist on the market. Take, for example, Star Micronics’ partner, Flash Order. Flash Order provides all of the benefits associated with kiosks, while being very affordable and easy for small businesses to implement. With a reasonably priced, easy-to-use kiosk implementation, it’s never been easier for small businesses to positively impact their ROI – and prosper.

Are you a kiosk manufacturer looking to find the right kiosk printer to fit your solution? Download Star’s free eBook, ” 8 Features Kiosk Manufacturers Should Look for When Choosing Kiosk Printing Mechanisms.”

Download eBook

June 13, 2019
3 Father’s Day Promotions to Boost Sales

Summer is almost here – and so is Father’s Day. Is your store prepared? Get ready with our Father’s Day promotions!

According to the National Retail Federation, last year 77% of Americans celebrated Father’s Day and spent a whopping $133 per person (the second highest amount in 15 years). Best of all, two-thirds of that spending happened in physical stores, and the trend is expected to continue this year, with a forecasted holiday spend of $15.3 billion.

It’s time to tell your shoppers about those special deals you have for Dad – using your Star receipt printer! With PromoPRNT, you can print custom promotions (for free*) right on your receipts.

Learn more in our quick how-to video:

To get you started, we’ve created three Father’s Day promotions in the PromoPRNT Promotion Builder – check them out:

Father’s Day Meal

Father’s Day Gift Sale

Father’s Day Golfing (or Other Activity)

Even More Ideas for Dad

You can also take your Father’s Day celebration beyond receipts. One way to do so is to create dad-focused merchandise displays in a high foot traffic area of your store. You can also incorporate your promotions into your website and social media design, create a Father’s Day gift guide, and more! Find even more tips here, on our retail POS software partner, Vend’s blog.

Ready to get started helping your customers celebrate Father’s Day? Click here to learn more about/register for PromoPRNT!

^{*Windows PC users can use their existing thermal printer, others may need to update printer model. Call 1 (800) 782-7636 extension 2 for details or visit www.promoprnt.com for more details.}

June 6, 2019
This Summer’s Hottest Restaurant Trends

People love dining out… and people love summer! But most of all, people love dining out in summer: almost half of all U.S. diners report they eat out the most during the sunny, warm season. Are you curious about this summer’s (and year’s) hottest restaurant trends? We have the know-how!

With more than 1 million restaurant locations in the country, and annual sales of $799 billion, the restaurant industry is booming – and constantly changing. We read the “What’s Hot” forecast from the National Restaurant Association, which surveys American Culinary Federation (ACF) chefs, and will save you some time by sharing some of the top trends – check them out below.

Even mainstream breweries, like Lagunitas, are incorporating cannabis into their beverages.

1. Cannabis-Infused Food & Beverages

A whopping 76% and 77% of chefs ranked cannabis-infused food and drinks as the first and second most popular trends this year, respectively. Why? They say the infused goods have the potential to create unique cuisine opportunities and new markets for experiential dining experiences.

This number-one trend comes as the cannabis industry overall is growing rapidly – it’s predicted that the global legal cannabis market will be worth $63.5 billion by 2024. (If you’re looking to cash in on the cannabis industry, be sure to download our free guide).

2. Zero-Waste Meals

Waste not, want not: 70% of surveyed chefs reported zero-waste meals as the third biggest trend this year. In general, eco-friendly products are thriving, and this carries over into the culinary world, as well.

So, what exactly is zero-waste? It’s food that’s focused on using food scraps, damaged produce, and leftovers to create delicious dishes. These foods, like coffee grind-flavored ice cream and cabbage butt stir fries, take what chefs used to throw away and make them into crave-worthy, guilt-free crowd-pleasers. Plant-based menu items are also a current hot trend (veggie “meat” products, we’re looking at you).

International menu items are having a moment right now, like “gazoz,” or Israeli soda. Source: www.fromthegrapevine.com

3. Globally Inspired Dishes for the Whole Family

It probably comes as no surprise that global foods are popular right now – but what might surprise you is which cultures’ cuisines are having a moment, and who the meals are for.

According to the report, the most popular cuisines right now are from North, West, and East Africa, as well as foods such as Israeli soda (gazoz), Thai-rolled ice cream, and shakshuka. And if you think American kids only like chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, think again: the number-one trend for kids’ meals this year is global flavors!

4. Hyper-Local Items

Next up on the list of hot restaurant trends is hyper-locally sourced items, or items that are essentially cultivated by the restaurant itself. You may notice this is similar to #2 in that it seems today’s consumers care more about where their foods come from, and how they are sourced. Hyper-local items that are popular now include locally-sourced produce, meat, seafood, and spirits/wine/beer. In particular, on-site barrel-aged drinks are the second most popular trend in the Alcoholic Beverages category.

Which Trends are Fading?

According to surveyed chefs, overnight oats, anise-flavored cocktails, novel cuts of meat, and desserts that feature pretzels are all not-so-hip anymore.

Download the full report now to learn about top restaurant trends by category (produce, dishes, condiments, kids’ meals, snacks/sweets, and more).

One thing that won’t fade out like other restaurant trends is the receipt. Discover when (and why) receipts are critical, as well as the value in both printed and digital receipts, now!

June 4, 2019
How Food Robots are Making Waves in the Restaurant Industry
Food robots might sound futuristic, but believe it or not, they’re already showing up in restaurants across the world. Offering both front- and back-of-house services, food robots work in a variety of roles, from cooking and cleaning up to bartending and bussing tables. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular food robots on the market today, and how restaurants can get their very own robot.

Cooking
- - Flippy: Meet Flippy, a robot that works at Caliburger in Pasadena, California. Flippy is capable of (impressively) frying 80 baskets of food per hour and serving 300 burgers a day. And Flippy can do more than just cook – it can even monitor food and clean up. Flippy helps the burger joint minimize headcount costs, as many short-order cooks were leaving the kitchen due to high temperatures (it’s worth noting that not one Caliburger employee has lost their job due to Flippy; in fact, Flippy requires humans to operate).
- - Vincenzo: Vincenzo is a pizza-making robot at Zume Pizza in Mountain View, California. Capable of creating 370 pizzas an hour, Vincenzo can press dough, dispense and spread sauce, and lift pizzas in and out of the oven, reducing delivery times to 5-20 minutes. Interestingly, there is no storefront for Zume Pizza; all pizzas are delivered via mobile kitchen food trucks.
- - Café X Barista Bot: Café X, a San Francisco coffeeshop, utilizes a one-armed assembly line-style robot that can create two drinks in under a minute. The café’s robot helps ensure complicated orders come out correctly, and apparently the drinks even taste good, too; according to Wired, “This robot barista makes a dang good latte.”
Bartending
- - Cyberdog Bartender Bot: When you step inside Prague’s Cyberdog, a two-level futuristic wine bar, you’ll soon realize it’s home to a robotic bartender that serves up drinks ordered via a smartphone app. The red robotic arm can pour up to four drinks simultaneously before they are placed on a tray and delivered via a mechanical system housed in the ceiling. Humorously, the robot can put on a show, too; if business is slow and the robot doesn’t have any orders to make, it gets “bored” and performs dances.
Serving
- - Penny: Created by Bear Robotics, Penny is a robot created to help complete tedious restaurant tasks. Penny serves food to diners tables in a fun and futuristic way, and can even bus the tables. Bear Robotics CEO Jon Ha said that waitstaff appreciate not having to lift heavy trays, and have experience higher tips because they now have more time and energy to dedicate to customer service.
- - Delivery Robots: In addition to serving customers in restaurants, fleets of delivery robots are hitting the streets to also deliver food (and other items) to consumers’ homes and offices. In 2018, the delivery robot market was worth $11.9 billion, and it’s predicted to be worth a whopping $34 billion by 2024. It makes sense, when you realize that more than 60% of a merchant’s customers live within three miles of one of their stores!
How Do Restaurants Get Their Hands on Food Robots?

Not surprisingly, robots can come with a hefty price tag. However, renting one (versus buying one) makes them surprisingly affordable. According to one robotics company, a robot can be leased, and that lease is reported to offer immediate return. The estimated price range for a lease is $15K-$50K (USD) per year, depending on the complexity of the duties wished to be performed. It still might feel futuristic, but quick-service restaurants where customers order and pay on kiosks, and eat food that is cooked and delivered by robots, is entirely possible.

Even if you’re unsure about employing a robot just yet, Star Micronics can help you automate other restaurant processes with self-service kiosks. Download our Kiosk Printing Solutions brochure to learn more about the durability, versatility, and industry-specific features Star offers.
May 23, 2019