CARPINTERIA, CA - Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Puzder is not opposed to a robot invasion in one of the chain’s restaurants. In fact, he’s rather fond of the idea.
The fast food executive said that he was inspired by San Francisco’s Eatsa, a service-forward, high-tech powered restaurant manned by just a few employees in the kitchen while the front of house is handled entirely by robotics.
“I want to try it,” Puzder told Business Insider in regards to an automated Carl’s Jr., adding that that isn’t all Eatsa has inspired him to change up.
It seems that the fast food CEO has his eye on a fresher Carl’s Jr. as well.
"We could have a restaurant that's focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person."
While the fresh-focused, almost fully-automated restaurant inspiration is part of the interest that could have the fast food chain looking into more produce involvement, Puzder commented that there was a financial motivator as well.
"With government driving up the cost of labor, it's driving down the number of jobs," he said, according to the report. "You're going to see automation not just in airports and grocery stores, but in restaurants."
And Puzder had an interesting take on millennial preferences when it comes to the service industry as well, posing that the impulse-buy generation loves technology, but not social interaction.
"Millennials like not seeing people," he says. "I've been inside restaurants where we've installed ordering kiosks... and I've actually seen young people waiting in line to use the kiosk where there's a person standing behind the counter, waiting on nobody."
While, as a millennial, I’m not entirely willing to admit I want to forgo such a key part of the “going out” eating experience, the picture he paints is not unheard of and could be supported by the driving e-commerce that has gripped service and retail in the past few years.
As for whether or not his prediction, which involves an entirely new kind of face for grocery, foodservice, and beyond comes true, keep checking in with AndNowUKnow while we eagerly await to find out.
