The robots are coming to Sweetgreen.
Popular Los Angeles salad chain Sweetgreen has acquired Boston-based Spyce, a robotic kitchen founded by four MIT grads in 2015.
At Spyce’s Washington Street location in downtown Boston, robots assemble bowls filled with various vegetables, grains and sauces. The fast-casual spot closed its doors amid the pandemic, but reopened in November, launching an electric moped delivery service.
Sweetgreen did not disclose terms of the acquisition or how the chain will introduce Spyce technology into its more than 130 restaurants across the U.S. It’s also not immediately clear whether Sweetgreen will use the Spyce acquisition as a way to lay off or furlough many of its 4,300 employees.
The acquisition will allow Sweetgreen employees “to focus more on preparation and hospitality moments, while having the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technology,” the company said in a release. The goal of incorporating Spyce technology at Sweetgreen locations will be to “generate faster and more consistent orders,” the release continued.
“As operators in the healthy, fast casual space, sweetgreen has long been the brand that we have most admired,” Michael Farid, co-founder and CEO of Spyce, in a statement. “We’re excited to come on board to join another inspiring, founder-led company, and to work together to blaze the trail for the future of this industry.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter.
