Compass Group Canada and SJW Robotics announce an exclusive partnership
by CM Staff
With the ability to produce 60+ meals per hour, the product is a natural fit for some of Compass Groups managed facilities where kitchen services are not available.
Illustration of the RoWok™️ Automated Kitchen, occupying only 100sq-ft of space.
MISSISSAUGA — Compass Group Canada and SJW Robotics announced an exclusive partnership where the global food service leader will pilot three 24/7 autonomous kitchen robots named RoWok™ in select Canadian operations. The partnership is aimed at addressing a gap in food service and providing an option for healthcare workers on a night shift or students studying after hours. RoWok™ is designed to serve spaces that traditionally may not have an available footprint for an on-site kitchen or kitchen staff available 24/7. The announcement is another step in Compass Group Canada’s mission to try and be a better food services provider.
“We looked at traditional hot food service models and saw a real need for 24/7 meal availability with wow factor,” said Michael Hachey, chief innovation officer. “By partnering with RoWok, we are adapting to different needs in the market and augmenting existing hot food service models that typically require labour and a full-service kitchen. People never used to think about grabbing a hot, fresh, customized meal at 3 a.m. because it was simply not available – now it’s possible with this cutting-edge technology that solves for these complexities,” he said.
Using robotics, AI, machine learning, data science and cloud analytics technology, RoWok™ offers a customer experience while occupying only 100 square feet of space. With the ability to produce 60+ meals per hour, the product is a natural fit for some of Compass Groups managed facilities where kitchen services are not available. The company intends to expand these services to provide another option to large-scale kitchen operations and mixed schedules, for example, healthcare workers and hospital guests eating during non-business hours or office workers without easy access to fresh cafeteria services.
“Our team has developed a fully autonomous QSR solution with one goal in mind – to cook incredibly fresh and great-tasting meals at high speed. Our partnership with Compass allows us to rapidly scale up within the infrastructure of one the best workplaces in retail and hospitality – and the team at Compass have been an invaluable complement to help accelerate our deployment,” said Nipun Sharma, co-founder & CEO, SJW Robotics Inc.
The RoWok™ machine works hand in hand with foodservice associates on site, who are required to prep, stock and monitor the quality of product and service. The technology will also help reduce the costs and labour complexities associated with offering a 24/7 staffed, fresh food service operation.
